After graciously accepting the invitation of curator Robert Smith to appear at Southbank’s Meltdown Festival, The Church journey once again from island home Australia to play a sold-out opening-night show with fellow pysch -art rockers and US touring companions the Psychedelic Furs, on June 15th. This makes for a perfect excuse to setup in London the whole weekend of the 16th and 17th and treat fans old and new to a one-off eclectic mix of exclusive band and solo sets. Special place will go to tracks from 1988’s Starfish- a 30th anniversary, and1998’s Hologram of Baal, itself celebrating 20 years- an entire rendition of 1982’s The Blurred Crusade not previously performed in Europe, and a big slice from the latest offering, Man Woman Life Death Infinity.
Another Century, another dream, another album from a band that's in too deep to go anywhere but ever closer to the other side. Man Woman Life Death Infinity is the 26th album by the Church and was released on October 6 2017. The album is their second with the rejuvenated line-up Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes,Tim Powles and Ian Haug.
The epic return of 2014's critically lauded Further/ Deeper blossomed into a roadhardened beast over four tours of the USA, two back home in Australia, and a new career high in front of 20,000 Spanish fans on a lap of Europe in 2015. Man Woman Life Death Infinity is where the revitalized quartet's freshly tuned chemistry reaches a new potency and precision: ten songs, 45 minutes, and a quantum leap into unexplored territory as strange as it is irresistible. This album, like its predecessor, has brought a fresh and futuristic wilder spirit to the touring stage.
"Music is like inner space and we're astronauts," says guitarist Koppes, who cofounded the Church in Sydney in 1980. "It's a spellbinding thing. It's hypnotizing. That's why people like it. It takes them into another world and we're here to open those doors." "This is the Church's water record," says Kilbey, singer, lyricist and bassist. "I guess water is my element. I've always marvelled at the sea and rivers and rain. It wasn't conscious at all but on reflection, it definitely is a preoccupation on this record. What that means, I don't know."
The band’s Unorthodox label thru MGM has released three singles- the hauntingly classic ‘Another Century’- the deeply chiming second single ‘Undersea’ -result of Kilbey's suggestion that the band should pretend to be another one altogether, like Sgt. Pepper wilfully choosing the brown acid, - and the cool 12/8 stroll and ebow fanfare of ‘I Don’t Know How/ I Don’t Know Why’
Man Woman Life Death Infinity Track Listing
1. Another Century
2. Submarine
3. For King Knife
4. Undersea
5. Before The Deluge
6. I Don’t Know How I Don’t Know Why
7. A Face In A Film
8. In Your Fog
9. Something Out There Is Wrong
10. Dark Waltz
15 June London: Meltdown-Southbank
16 / 17 June London: ‘A Weekend Crusade’ - Bush Hall
18 June Sheffield: O2 Academy2*
19 June Newcastle: O2 Academy2*
20 June Glasgow: O2 ABC2*
