I love it when you come across a band, album or just a song
that grabs you and won’t let you go. I
recently came across Public Service Broadcastings EP The War Room and have found myself listening to it a few times a
day ever since. The EP evokes a real
sense of history during World War II in Britain. The use of the samples from old public
information films and propaganda work with the bands music to create the sense
of anticipation, fear and national pride experienced during this horrific
period in history.
If War Should Come,
the first track on the EP, creates a brilliant sense of anticipation and fear
at the prospect of war. I admire the
bravery shown through the old speeches and the way the music builds up
brilliantly evokes how I think Britain must have felt, on the brink of war.
“No-one in this
country wants war, but if war should come don’t be alarmed, keep of good heart, whatever happens, Britain is a nation prepared”
The track ends with the recognisable quote from Prime Minister Chamberlain, “I have to tell
you now, this country is at war” The whole sense of the build up, the fighting
spirit and then the melancholic tones stating that the war has started is so
moving and stirs emotions that no text book could ever evoke.
London Can Take It
begins with the haunting sound of the air raid siren, I can’t imagine the fear
that must of struck upon hearing this and having to put your life on hold until
the night was over. The sample used in this
track really evokes the bravery of Londoners during this time.
“These are not
Hollywood sound effects, this is the music they play every night in London, the
symphony of war”
London is personified throughout the track, and even compared
to a boxer; “The sign of a
great fighter is can he get up from the floor after being knocked down. London
does this every morning”. As a Londoner with so much passion for my home city,
this track creates a sense of pride for the cities ancestors who lived through
this terrible time with such strength, as the track repeatedly states, “London
can take it”.
Spitfire comes as a welcome relief from the intensely
moving tracks previously and the music really evokes the excitement of the
planes that were used, which is still felt by thousands of families who attend
air shows every summer! I used to love running into the garden on a really hot
summers day to watch the warplanes fly over on their way to or from an air
show. However the samples used
demonstrate the horror of these machines (which I think we can easily forget).
“It
isn’t exactly a bird I’m creating is it, at least its a curious sort of bird, a
bird that breathes fire and spits out death and destruction, a spitfire bird”.
Dig For Victory is the penultimate track, much calmer than Spitfire however still with the driving
force powering through it demonstrating the power of civilians, “Young men,
young woman, children, old men: they know that food is just an important weapon
of war as guns.”. Dig For Victory is a phrase most people must be familiar
with and this track brilliantly evokes the sense of powering together to
support troops overseas and to support each other. The driving rhythms really
evoke this sense of camaraderie.
The most
moving and evocative track on the EP is Waltz
for George, with significantly less instrumentation and a near continuous
sample telling of the horrors at the end of the war, with soldiers "tired .. blood stained" with "boots that hadn't been off for five days".
The EP ends with a sentence that I find truly
haunting as the music fades to nothing, “It was outstanding to walk along
carriage after carriage full of soldiers and to find in each one … silence. And
so the men of the BEF came home” The simplicity of this track makes it one
of the most beautiful and evocative tracks on the EP.
I love this
EP; I love how it makes me cry and feel such pride for my ancestors and what they
did for Britain. I’m going to see the
band live in March and can’t wait to see how their live shows are put together,
and if you haven’t heard the EP yet, what are you doing?
Listen to it here - http://publicservicebroadcasting.net/music/
