“Follow the Light” by Broadcast

After her untimely death in 2011, Broadcast’s Trish Keenan left behind a vast archive of demos and other recordings that her former partner and bandmate, James Cargill, has been sifting through in preparation for the band’s final releases: Distant Call: Collected Demos 2000 – 2006 and Spell Blanket: Collected Demos 2006 – 2009.

Being demos, it’s no surprise that many of these songs feel like half-realized sketches (though still intriguing). But then there’s “Follow the Light,” which finds Keenan intoning “Follow the light/Look into the light/Look into my eyes/And follow the light” over muted synths. Though fairly stripped down — for a Broadcast song, anyway — there’s no denying its spellbinding effect.

Between the song’s central refrain and its otherworldly atmosphere, it’s difficult to describe “Follow the Light” in anything but spectral terms, i.e., the song makes you feel as if you’re listening to a ghost beckon you into the hereafter. I’m hesitant to take that too far, though, for fear of trivializing Keenan’s death. Even so, it’s hard to shake the song’s eeriness or poignancy when considered in light of her passing.

Distant Call and Spell Blanket are currently available via Warp Records.