The Church - Untitled 23

Mon 21st Sep, 2009 in Music Reviews

The Church were perhaps buoyed by the creative process involved in scoring a science fiction novel because their partnership with American science fiction writer, Jeff VanderMeer spawned the soundtrack, Shriek: Excerpts From The Soundtrack and this penchant for otherworldly themes has traversed into the song writing for their latest album proper, Untitled #23.

The first spin of this record conjures up images of beings that are light years away and wearing the same tailored space suits. In short, the answer to the eternal question, “Is anybody out there?” is a defiant, “Yes!”

Cobalt Blue begins proceedings with a beat similar to Split Enz’s Charlie but thematically is closer to the aforementioned group’s song, Poor Boy. Also, images of Bowie placing calls from ground control to Space Oddity is another obvious reference and this sort of suggestion was even used to describe the band through part of the eighties. Ultimately, the track is like a bunch of rather discordant sounds including people talking and various bits of drum, piano, guitars and bass thrown together into a huge melting pot.

Deadman’s Hand is dark and broody with talk of crushing the revolution and teleporting the listener back to The Church’s heyday. On closer inspection, singer, Steve Kilbey seems to be providing some kind of telepathic message from a faraway place; methinks it could be a similar location to New Order’s In A Lonely Place.

Pangaea could be Lou Reed singing in space while accompanied by a Spanish guitar hero and the whistling wind. While, Happenstance helps promote that idea that Youth Group have been influenced in many ways by The Church. However, this terrain is soon diverted off the traditional course to instead come face-to-face with a screaming banshee.

A near intergalactic emergency signals On Angel Street, where a pulsing synthesiser chord makes it feel like a panic switch has been detonated thanks to its incessant nature. Meanwhile, Sunken Sun is a breezy track, and at times a little eerie as those lost spirits escape away in a trail of moon dust. Finally, Lunar is punctuated with some flute last seen on a Jethro Tull record before segueing into some semi-creationist sounds akin to Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

In all, Untitled #23 seems like a modern day flow on from David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust offerings. The Church 2009 are occasionally rather dark and haunting and at other times quite content to seek solace in journeying to other galaxies for inspiration. While the idea of music from space is not a new one, the band manages to take this theme and forge it into their own unique and unexpected route, and this could only be expected from this fine Aussie quartet.