The Church (band)

The Church are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave, neo-psychedelia, and indie rock, their music later came to feature slower tempos and surreal soundscapes reminiscent of alternative rock, dream pop, and post-rock. Glenn A. Baker has written that "From the release of the 'She Never Said' single in November 1980, this unique Sydney-originated entity has purveyed a distinctive, ethereal, psychedelic-tinged sound which has alternatively found favour and disfavour in Australia."<ref>Glenn A. Baker, sleeve note to Of Skins and Heart EMI CD 8297652</ref> The Los Angeles Times has described the band's music as "dense, shimmering, exquisite guitar pop".<ref>Quoted on back of sleeve, Of Skins and Heart EMI Cd 829652</ref>

The founding members were Steve Kilbey on lead vocals and bass guitar, Peter Koppes and Marty Willson-Piper on guitars, and Nick Ward on drums. Ward played only on their debut album, and the band's drummer for the rest of the 1980s was Richard Ploog. Jay Dee Daugherty (ex-Patti Smith Group) played drums from 1990 to 1993, followed by "timEbandit" Tim Powles (ex-the Venetians), who remains with them to the present day. Koppes left the band from 1992 to 1997<ref> Template:Cite web</ref> and again in 2020, with Willson-Piper departing in 2013. Ian Haug, formerly of Powderfinger, replaced Willson-Piper, with former touring multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Cain and Even guitarist Ashley Naylor joining after Koppes' later departure. Kilbey, Koppes, and Powles also recorded together as the Refo:mation in 1997.

The Church's debut album, Of Skins and Heart (1981), delivered their first radio hit, "The Unguarded Moment", and they were signed to major labels in Australia, Europe, and the United States. However, the U.S. label, dissatisfied with their second album, dropped the band without releasing it. This put a dent in their success in the U.S., but they returned to the charts in 1988 with the album Starfish and the U.S. Top 40 hit "Under the Milky Way". Subsequent mainstream success has proved elusive, but the band has sustained a large international cult following and earned consistent critical recognition for its later work, including being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in Sydney in 2010.

The Church continue to tour and record, releasing their twenty‑sixth studio album, The Hypnogogue, in February 2023, and their twenty‑seventh, Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars, in March 2024.

History

1980–1981: Early days, Of Skins and Heart

Singer, songwriter, and bass guitarist Steve Kilbey first played with guitarist Peter KoppesTemplate:Citation needed in a band called Baby Grande in Canberra, Australia in the mid-1970s.<ref name="Dwyer"/> After each had left to travel and play in other bands, including Tactics (Kilbey) and Limazine (Koppes), they met again in Sydney in March 1980 and formed the initial three-piece version of The Church, with Limazine drummer Nick Ward. The name was a shortened version of the original name proposed by Kilbey: "The Church of Man". A month later, Marty Willson-Piper, originally from Liverpool, United Kingdom, witnessed one of their gigs and met Kilbey afterwards. That same night he was invited to join the band on guitar, establishing the classic two-guitar formation.Template:Citation needed

A four-song demo was recorded in Kilbey's bedroom studio<ref name="Howl"/> and sent to Chris Gilbey of ATV Northern Songs.<ref name="McF"/> The song "Chrome Injury" attracted the attention of managing director Gilbey, who signed the band to his recently formed record production company, in association with EMI and their recently resurrected Parlophone label.<ref name="Chugg"/> Gilbey went to band rehearsals and helped shape their sound—he bought Willson-Piper a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and equipped Koppes with an Echolette tape delay. Of that first batch of demos, only "Chrome Injury" would go on to be recorded for release.Template:Citation needed

The band's debut album, Of Skins and Heart, was recorded late in 1980, produced by Gilbey and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Seven of the nine tracks were written solely by Kilbey and two co-written with others.Template:Citation needed The first single, "She Never Said", was released in November,Template:Citation needed but did not chart.<ref name="Kent"/> At the start of 1981, Ward was replaced on drums by Richard Ploog.<ref name="McF"/> Ploog was recruited by their manager, Michael Chugg, after hearing of his reputation in Adelaide. Ploog's arrival established The Church's first stable line-up.<ref name="Chugg"/> The second single, "The Unguarded Moment", co-written by Kilbey and Michelle Parker, was issued alongside the album in March 1981, but only in Australia initially.Template:Citation needed "The Unguarded Moment" became an Australian top forty hit, reaching No. 22 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart, while Of Skins and Heart went gold, achieving the same position on the related Albums Chart.<ref name="Kent"/> To promote the releases, the band undertook their first national tour.<ref name="Chugg"/>

The first recordings with Ploog were released as a five-track double 7-inch EP, Too Fast for You, in July.<ref name="McF"/> It included the first collectively written track, "Sisters". Another track, "Tear It All Away", later released as a separate single, showed a development towards the more elaborate guitar structures which would become part of the band's signature sound.Template:Citation needed Their image and sound now evoked comparisons with 1960s psychedelic groups, with tight jeans, paisley shirts, and Byrds-style jangly guitars.<ref name="Chugg"/>

The commercial success of Of Skins and Heart enabled Gilbey to present the release to Freddie Cannon of French label Carrere and Rupert Perry of U.S. label Capitol. Both labels released the album in 1982, renaming it simply The Church and slightly altering the track listing to include songs from Too Fast for You and using a crop of that EP's artwork as the cover.Template:Citation needed The Church peaked at no. 7 in the New Zealand Albums Chart<ref name="NZCharts"/> and no. 13 in Sweden.<ref name="SweCharts"/> Ploog was incorrectly credited as the sole drummer on the release, despite only playing on one or three tracks, depending on the version.Template:Citation needed Capitol also released an edited single version of "The Unguarded Moment", without the band's approval.<ref name="Chugg"/>

1982–1985: The Blurred Crusade, Seance, Remote Luxury, and Persia

The band's second album, The Blurred Crusade, was issued in March 1982 and was both produced and mixed by Bob Clearmountain.Template:Citation needed "With its mystical lyrics the second albumTemplate:Nbsp... brought the group's own style more into focus".<ref name="Howl"/> The album peaked at no. 10 and its first single, "Almost with You" resulted in a second Top 30 hit, peaking at no. 21.<ref name="Kent"/>

The Church undertook a second Australian tour, while Carrere released the album in Europe, generating enough sales for them to tour there in October.Template:Citation needed However, Capitol declined to release The Blurred Crusade in North America and demanded that they write more radio-friendly material, as exemplified by their stable-mates Little River Band, which horrified the band.<ref name="Chugg"/> After another recording session, five new songs were offered to Capitol but the label was still unimpressed and dropped the band. The five songs were later released in Australia as the EP Sing-Songs,Template:Citation needed which reached the Top 100 Albums Chart in December.<ref name="Kent"/> Meanwhile, their manager, Michael Chugg, arranged a U.K. tour supporting the hugely successful pop group Duran Duran, but after eight gigs The Church pulled out, feeling that audiences were unsympathetic. Chugg later recalled, "They were hard work. All four of them were strong-willed and had their own ideas of how things should be."<ref name="Chugg"/>

In May 1983, the band released their third album, Seance, co-produced by The Church and engineer John Bee (Hoodoo Gurus, Icehouse, The Divinyls),Template:Citation needed which peaked at No. 18.<ref name="Kent"/> It used more keyboards and synthesizers and has been described as "That stark release [which] explored the band's darker side, and [whose] tracksTemplate:Nbsp... were awash with strings and other effects".<ref name="McF"/> The accompanying live shows included a guest keyboardist, Melbourne-based session player Dean Walliss.Template:Citation needed

For Seance, the band employed mixing engineer Nick Launay, who had worked with Midnight Oil. He favoured a gated reverb drum sound, popular in the 1980s, which produced a staccato-like snare sound. Unsatisfied with this, the band asked Launay to redo the mix, but the effect was only lightened. The first single, "Electric Lash", featured this effect especially prominently and it was likened to a "machine gun". Despite dissatisfaction over the mix, Seance featured a lusher, more atmospheric sound with highlights including "Now I Wonder Why" and "Fly". Internationally, the album sold poorly, being considered dark and cryptic. Some critics in Europe and the U.S. did like the album however, with Creem hailing the band as "one of the best in the world".Template:Citation needed

Seance was again dominated by Kilbey's songwriting. Some 20 songs were put together on his home 4-track. Only one band composition made the album: the experimental "Travel by Thought". Kilbey and Willson-Piper had co-written another track, "10,000 Miles", but the label rejected it. Kilbey was upset by the label's interference, finding the track essential to their live set (it would be included on their next EP). Despite the difficulties, the album yielded two minor hits—"It's No Reason" and "Electric Lash"—and stayed in the British independent charts for several months.Template:Citation needed

Following the release of Seance, they toured Australia and New Zealand for the rest of the year to pay off debts incurred on the European tour. Meanwhile, Capitol Records released their first album in Canada, where it reached the Top 20. The Sing-Songs EP also became one of the bestselling Canadian imports of 1983.Template:Citation needed

Forgoing a full album, the band released two EPs in 1984, Remote Luxury in March and Persia in August, but only in Australia and New Zealand. Both EPs reached the Top 50 on the Australian Albums Chart.<ref name="Kent"/> Again, almost all tracks were written by Kilbey, but compared to Seance, the atmosphere was lighter and less gloomy. The band's trademark guitar sound was complemented by the keyboards of guest musicians Davey Ray Moor (from the Crystal Set, which included Kilbey's brother Russell)Template:Citation needed and Craig Hooper (from the Reels), who joined as an auxiliary member.<ref name="McF"/> Hooper soon left to form the Mullanes.Template:Citation needed

The band then signed to Warner Bros. Records in the United States. Internationally, the two EPs were repackaged as a single album titled Remote Luxury. Its U.S. release was their first record there since the debut album – although The Blurred Crusade and Seance had sold well on import. Due to the interest raised in the U.S., they left Michael Chugg Management in Sydney and signed with Malibu Management's owner John Lee. They toured the U.S. in October and November and while venues in New York and Los Angeles saw audiences of about 1,000 people, other gigs had as few as 50. In financial terms, the tour went poorly and the band lost thousands of dollars a week.Template:Citation needed

Unable to repeat the commercial success of the first two albums, there was a perception by the band that their creativity was declining. Kilbey later said: "I think we released a few dud records that weren't as good as they should have been, after The Blurred CrusadeTemplate:Nbsp... The band was just drifting along in a sea of apathy, I was writing not-so-good songs and the band wasn't playing them very well, so everyone's enthusiasm just waned".Template:Citation needed

The start of 1985 was quiet for the band as members spent time apart in Stockholm, Sydney, and Jamaica. Kilbey's debut solo single, "This Asphalt Eden", was released by EMI Parlophone and he was also the producer on the single "Benefit of the Doubt" for the Crystal Set.Template:Citation needed

1985–1988: Heyday, Starfish

Steve Kilbey is sitting on a low rock wall beside a garden bed and a rock pillar. He is wearing dark glasses, a white tee-shirt with The Church and four faces (partly obscured), and jeans.

Steve Kilbey, California, 1986

The Church reconvened at Studios 301 in mid-1985 to work on their next album, Heyday, with British producer/engineer Peter Walsh (Simple Minds, Scott Walker, Peter Gabriel).Template:Citation needed Their first single in almost two years, "Already Yesterday", appeared in October and just made the Top 100.<ref name="McF"/><ref name="Kent"/> Heyday followed in November and brought new stylistic elements with the addition of real strings and horns, creating a warm, organic sound. The songs "were among the richest moments in The Church canon".<ref name="McF"/> While Kilbey still wrote the lyrics, the band were now largely writing the music together, a practice which they would continue thereafter.Template:Citation needed

The album was warmly received,Template:Citation needed, and it peaked in Australia at no. 19<ref name="Kent"/> and placed on the U.S. Billboard 200.Template:Citation needed A promotional tour started in April 1986, with concerts both at home and abroad. Unexpectedly, Willson-Piper suddenly quit mid-tour after rising in-band tensions and on 10 July, the Church performed as a three-piece in Hamburg, Germany. Willson-Piper returned within a week after Kilbey agreed that future releases would contain more group efforts.<ref name="McF"/>

Despite the charged atmosphere and warm press, low sales for the album's singles in Australia prompted EMI to drop them. Plans for a double live album, Bootleg, were also scrapped. Since the band had greater sales overseas than in Australia, they decided to record in a studio abroad and opted for a four-album deal with U.S. label Arista Records in 1987.Template:Citation needed For Australian releases they signed with Mushroom Records.<ref name="McF"/>

Recording sessions in Los Angeles, with producers Waddy Wachtel (Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams) and Greg Ladanyi (Warren Zevon, Jackson Browne, Fleetwood Mac), were a new challenge according to Kilbey: "It was Australian hippies versus West Coast guys who know the way they like to do things. We were a bit more undisciplined than they would have liked". Under pressure from the producers, Kilbey took vocal lessons, an experience he later regarded as valuable.Template:Citation needed

Four weeks of rehearsals resulted in Starfish, released in April 1988. The album found its way into the mainstream, marking a new worldwide commercial peak for the band. It reached no. 11 in Australia<ref name="Kent"/> and the top 50 in the U.S.Template:Citation needed It was awarded a gold record in December 1992 by the RIAA.<ref name="RIAA"/> Also released in February, the single "Under the Milky Way" reached no. 24 on the U.S. Hot 100Template:Citation needed and no. 22 in Australia,<ref name="Kent"/> as well as entering the Canadian Top 100.<ref name="CanRPM"/> It peaked at no. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks.Template:Citation needed The song was written by Kilbey and then-girlfriend Karin Jansson (ex-Pink Champagne).<ref name="Shedden"/> "Under the Milky Way" won an ARIA Award in 1989 for Single of the Year.<ref name="ARIA1989"/> In 2008, readers of The Australian voted it the best Australian song of the last 20 years. In response, Kilbey said, "it's not really about anything at all. I just wanted to create an atmosphere and I didn't even put a lot of thought into that. History has given it something that it never really had".<ref name="Shedden"/> A second single from Starfish, "Reptile", charted on the Australian top 100 in August.<ref name="Kent"/>

EMI responded with a double compilation album, Hindsight 1980-1987, which contained selections from the band's prior albums, together with hitherto-uncollected singles and B-sides.Template:Citation needed It peaked in the ARIA Top 40 Albums Chart in July.<ref name="AusCharts"/>

1989–1992: Gold Afternoon Fix, Priest=Aura

The Church promoted Starfish with a nine-month tour before they returned to the studio for a follow-up. With a U.S. Top 50 album under their belt, there was pressure from Arista to create another. The band started negotiations with former Led Zeppelin bass guitarist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, who had a reputation as a sophisticated producer, but the record company and management vetoed their suggestion. In an attempt to duplicate the success of Starfish, The Church returned to Los Angeles, with Waddy Wachtel producing.Template:Citation needed

Drummer Richard Ploog began to retreat further into his own drug habit as pressure from within the studio environment increased.<ref name="Feerick"/> The number of attempted studio takes spiralled, and Ploog's relationship with Kilbey deteriorated, accentuated by Wachtel's demands for a consistently reliable tempo. Eventually, Ploog's isolation led to exclusion, and his drum tracks were replaced by rigid, programmed drums on all but three tracks. He left the band after the sessions.Template:Citation needed

The resulting album, Gold Afternoon Fix, reached no. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart.<ref name="AusCharts"/> Gold Afternoon Fix was heavily backed by a promotional campaign from Arista, and the band went on tour, hiring Patti Smith's drummer Jay Dee Daugherty. The album spawned a hit single, "Metropolis" (no. 19 in Australia and no. 11 on U.S. Mainstream Rock), but the follow-up, "You're Still Beautiful", did not chart. Ultimately, the album's sales were lower than StarfishTemplate:'s, and press was mixed. The band, particularly Kilbey, would later dismiss the album as "lousy", "hashed together", and "hideous", although many of the songs have since become fixtures in the band's setlists.Template:Citation needed

The Church subsequently returned to Sydney's Studios 301 to commence work on their next album. With lowered commercial expectations and less pressure from Arista, the atmosphere was more relaxed. Bringing in British producer Gavin MacKillop (Barenaked Ladies, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Straitjacket Fits) to supervise the sessions, the band began to improvise the framework for the next set of songs.Template:Citation needed

Priest=Aura, titled from Kilbey's misreading of a Spanish fan's English vocabulary notes ('priest' = 'cura'), was their longest album yet, at 65 minutes. With song concepts derived from cryptic, one-word working titles (an idea originally proposed by Willson-Piper), the lyrics leaned towards the abstract and esoteric. Upon its release on 10 March 1992, Priest=Aura was given a mixed reception.Template:Citation needed It peaked in the ARIA Top 30.<ref name="AusCharts"/> The band only went on a limited tour, confined to Australia, as Kilbey prepared for the birth of his twin daughters with Karin Jansson.Template:Citation needed

Adding to the decline in the Church's outlook was the announcement of Koppes' departure. His decision reflected two main factors: that the band had earned nothing for the two-week tour of Australia, and that he felt shut out of the creative process—a longstanding complaint that stretched back at least as far as Seance, if not further.<ref>Robert Dean Lurie. No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and The Church. Portland OR: Verse Chorus press, 2009, p. 219</ref> In his 2014 autobiography, Something Quite Peculiar, Kilbey called Priest=Aura their "undisputed masterpiece", despite its muted reception at the time of release.Template:Citation needed

1993–1996: Sometime Anywhere, Magician Among the Spirits

Despite the loss of Koppes, Arista decided to stand by the band's contract and back another Church album, and so Kilbey and Willson-Piper began to write new material. When it became clear that Daugherty would not be returning to the fold either, the remaining two took the opportunity to approach their music from new perspectives, abandoning their long-established roles and stylistic elements in favour of experimentation, spontaneity, and electronica.

Early in 1994, the two brought in Willson-Piper's childhood friend Andy 'Dare' Mason to produce, record, and mix. New Zealand drummer Tim Powles (ex-The Venetians) was hired for the sessions, having already played with Kilbey on his Jack Frost project. Considered temporary at the time, Powles would soon become a permanent member of the band.<ref name="Dwyer"/>

The resulting album, Sometime Anywhere, was released in May 1994.Template:Citation needed It was described as a "rich, dark, epic release [which] picked up where Priest left off with lush, lengthy tracks".<ref name="McF"/> Although it reached the top 30 in Australia,<ref name="AusCharts"/> sales, however, were paltry, and the first single, "Two Places at Once", did not chart. Promotion was minimal as Arista saw insufficient commercial promise in the release. With another commercially unsuccessful album on their hands, Arista did not renew The Church's contract and pulled financial support for a tour, leaving Kilbey and Willson-Piper to resort to only a short run of acoustic gigs as a duo.Template:Citation needed

Without a recording deal, the band's future looked bleak as Kilbey and Willson-Piper began work on new recordings in 1995. Although initially a two-man project, the new material saw input from new drummer Powles and hired violinist Linda Neil. Renewed contact between Kilbey and Peter Koppes led to the latter agreeing to guest on four songs. Simon Polinski (Yothu Yindi) was drafted in to co-produce, engineer, and mix the sessions. The music saw a return to guitar-based material, infused with krautrock and art rock influences. A 15-minute atmospheric piece called "Magician Among the Spirits" dominated the sessions, named after a book by Harry Houdini. Additional contributions by Utungun Percussion added a new, primal aspect to several songs.Template:Citation needed

The album, also called Magician Among the Spirits, was led by the single "Comedown". It was released on the band's own Deep Karma label, but due to financial constraints, they had to arrange outside distribution for the North American and European markets. Within a short time, the U.S. distributor went bankrupt, leaving the band stripped of its earnings from North American sales.Template:Citation needed

1997–1999: The Refo:mation, Hologram of Baal, A Box of Birds

Following the commercial failure of Magician Among the Spirits, the members of The Church turned their attention to other projects and Willson-Piper left Australia again in order to collaborate with other artists and write new solo material. In his absence, Kilbey, Powles, and Koppes spent some studio time together and quickly wrote and recorded an album as The Refo:mation, utilizing Powles also as a mix engineer. Pharmakoi/Distance-Crunching Honchos with Echo Units saw a greater focus on concise, guitar-dominated songs, in contrast to the experimentation of Magician Among the Spirits.

Group tensions within the Church proper were still simmering, however. Kilbey declared that the end was near; after a final album, with the working title Au Revoir Por Favor, the band would be put to rest. The group agreed to play a string of farewell concerts around Australia, whose success put an end to talk of the band's demise.

The results of the new recording sessions saw a return to the band's roots: the material was once again based around Koppes and Willson-Piper's guitar interplay. Also, for the first time, the band completely produced the work themselves, under Powles' aegis. Originally given the name Bastard Universe, the forthcoming album was re-titled Hologram of Allah after Willson-Piper found the original too negative. Concerns about fundamentalist Muslim reaction to the potentially blasphemous title made the band finally opt for the more neutral Hologram of Baal, after the Canaanite god. Released under a new contract with UK independent label Cooking Vinyl, the album was distributed in the U.S. by Thirsty Ear. A limited edition featured a bonus disc with a nearly 80-minute continuous improvised instrumental, which received the original title of the album, Bastard Universe.

The reformed and rejuvenated band went on their first fully electric tour of the U.S., Australia, and Europe in many years. A plan to release a live album called Bag of Bones was put into motion, but then cancelled. Instead, a collection of cover songs was recorded in Sweden, shedding light on the band's influences. A Box of Birds arrived in August 1999, less than a year after Hologram of Baal. The insert for the CD was designed as interchangeable, with ten separate sleeve designs created by fans.

2000–2007: After Everything Now This, Forget Yourself, Uninvited, Like the Clouds

In 2001, "Under the Milky Way" was featured in the film Donnie Darko.Template:Citation needed Recording for their next album turned out to be painstakingly slow due to numerous side projects and simple geography. With Kilbey now living in Sweden, Willson-Piper in England, and the others in Australia, the bandmates met across several separate sessions. Partially recorded in Sweden, NYC, and Australia, the resulting After Everything Now This, released in January 2002, saw a focus on the softer elements of the band.Template:Cn The album achieved the biggest international success for The Church in almost ten years. The successive world tour featured the band in a more subtle setting as well, with most tracks performed primarily acoustically alongside guest David Lane on piano.Template:Citation needed

Not long after, the double-disc remix/outtakes set Parallel Universe hit stores in late 2002. Unique among the band's catalogue, the first disc, subtitled "remixture", featured a reshuffled, remixed, electronic version of the After Everything Now This album, the result of Tim Powles' collaboration with Sydney EDM musicians. The second disc, subtitled "mixture", compiled leftover songs from the After Everything Now This recording sessions.Template:Citation needed

Around the time that Parallel Universe was released, the Church had returned to the studio to record yet another album, eventually titled Forget Yourself. Rather than fleshing the songs out over a long, gradual process, the band decided to keep the music as close to the original jam-based material as possible. Stylistically, this made for a much rawer sound, primarily recorded live and with minimal overdubs. Forget Yourself was engineered and co-produced by Nic Hard and was released in Australia in October 2003 and in the U.S. in February 2004.Template:Citation needed

Their prolific output continued into 2004 with the release of three ancillary albums. Under the guidance of manager Kevin Lane Keller—an American fan and marketing professor who had been working with the band since 2001—the Church began capitalizing on the advantages offered by the internet and the independent music industry.Template:Citation needed First, in August, came the entirely improvised album Jammed, containing just two long tracks and available exclusively from the band's website.Template:Citation needed Next, in October, came their third outtakes album, Beside Yourself, covering the Forget Yourself sessions.Template:Citation needed Finally, only six weeks later, came El Momento Descuidado, in which the band presented old and new material in an acoustic setting, for the Liberation Blue label. The title was a rough tongue-in-cheek translation of "The Unguarded Moment", a version of which was included. A short acoustic tour followed in late 2004, which initiated a new practice amongst the band members: that of swapping instruments on stage.Template:Citation needed The album was eventually nominated in 2005 for "Best Adult Contemporary Album" at the Australian ARIA Music Awards, although it did not win.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Four members of The Church are performing on-stage. Koppes is facing forward and strums his guitar. Kilbey is playing a bass guitar and singing into a microphone. Powles is set back, obscured by his drum kit. Willson-Piper is partly turned to his left and is strumming a guitar.

Koppes, Kilbey, Powles, Willson-Piper on-stage.
Park West, Chicago, 18 August 2006

In 2005, the Church returned to full electric mode and began work on new material once again. The first release from these sessions was the outtakes album Back with Two Beasts, released via their website as a teaser for the main album which would follow a few months later. Back with Two Beasts has over time come to have a "main" album life of its own, with tracks being featured on Apple music and the like, being seen by many fans as the band at its fluid and fresh artistic best. Uninvited, Like the Clouds, their 20th studio album, was released to critical acclaim in April 2006.Template:Citation needed Just before its release, in March, they performed "Under the Milky Way" with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2006 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In February 2007 came El Momento Siguiente, a second album of acoustic re-interpretations of earlier songs plus several new compositions and a cover version of the Triffids song "Wide Open Road".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later that year, the band toured Australia with the Pretenders, and EMI released the double-CD collection Deep in the Shallows – The Classic Singles Collection.Template:Citation needed

2008–2011: Shriek, Untitled #23, ARIA Hall of Fame induction, 30th anniversary

In 2006, the Church had embarked on their third improvised music project: to provide the soundtrack for a short film based on the American science fiction writer Jeff VanderMeer's novel Shriek: An Afterword. The music was released in 2008 as the album Shriek: Excerpts from the Soundtrack, and was the first release on their new label, Unorthodox Records, a partnership with MGM Distribution.Template:Citation needed

In February 2009, the band began the build-up to their next major studio album with the Coffee Hounds EP, which featured the original, non-album composition "The Coffee Song", and a cover of Kate Bush's classic "Hounds of Love".Template:Citation needed The following month, they released the Pangaea EP, whose title track would also be on the upcoming album.Template:Citation needed

Unorthodox Records released the album Untitled #23 in Australia in March, and the U.S. label Second Motion Records issued it to the rest of the world shortly thereafter.Template:Citation needed Kilbey also alluded to the mystical significance of the number 23 in an interview with the music publication Music Feeds.<ref name="The Church – Music Feeds">Template:Cite web</ref> The So Love May Find Us international tour followed, named after a non-album track from the Pangaea EP.Template:Citation needed

Coinciding with the tour, a book entitled No Certainty Attached: Steve Kilbey and The Church by Robert Dean Lurie was published in Australia, the U.S., and the UK by Verse Chorus Press. While primarily a biography of Kilbey, the book also traced the evolution of the band from his perspective. This was not an official band project, but Kilbey, Koppes, and various friends and family members did participate.Template:Citation needed

On 27 November 2009, the Church released another EP, Operetta. The title track was taken from Untitled #23, but the remaining tracks, including the 34-minute improvisation "Particles Matter", were unique to this release.Template:Citation needed

In February 2010, the band announced that they would be celebrating their thirtieth anniversary with an acoustic tour entitled An Intimate Space. The shows included the Deadman's Hand EP, which contained more unreleased material from the Untitled #23 sessions and several other tracks.Template:Citation needed

On 27 October 2010, the Church were inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame by media commentator George Negus, while young pop singer Washington performed "The Unguarded Moment".<ref name="Purdie"/><ref name="Treuen"/> After their acceptance speech, the band performed "Under the Milky Way" and "Tantalized".<ref name="Treuen"/>

The Church travelled to the U.S. once again in February 2011 in full electric mode for the Future Past Perfect tour, performing three albums in their entirety: Untitled #23, Priest=Aura, and Starfish.<ref name="REco"/> This tour was the first on which the band was joined onstage by the Australian multi-instrumentalist Craig Wilson, from the band ASTREETLIGHTSONG.Template:Citation needed A previous show on 17 December 2010 at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, was filmed and made available to stream online.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 10 April 2010, the band celebrated their 30th anniversary with a special show entitled "A Psychedelic Symphony" at the Sydney Opera House, which had been a year in preparation. Accompanied by conductor George Ellis and the George Ellis Symphony Orchestra, the concert was performed to a sold-out 2,000+ capacity crowd and was recorded and filmed. A DVD and double CD were released by Unorthodox in June 2014, the band's first official live album. The show was also broadcast on the Australian music TV channel MAX in October 2011.Template:Citation needed

2012-2019: Royalty dispute, member departures, new releases

In March 2013, there were signs of internal problems in the band when Kilbey issued a series of statements that indicated that he was considering leaving the Church due to a dispute over royalty payments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Then, later in the year, Kilbey announced on the band's Facebook page that Willson-Piper would not be returning and had been replaced by former Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug. Kilbey explained that Willson-Piper was "not available" for the recording of a new album and subsequent touring, and he praised Haug as "a brilliant guitarist". Kilbey also provided a pre-emptive response to disgruntled fans: "... if you can't dig it I'm sorry. this is my fucking band after all and it has existed at times without Peter and in the beginning without Marty."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In early October 2014, Kilbey explained that Willson-Piper was not asked to leave the band but that he had simply not replied to the various attempts made to contact him. Realizing that Willson-Piper would not respond, and in agreement with Powles at the time, Kilbey said "we have to find someone with stature.Template:Nbsp... He has to have his own trip, he can't be some weedy little guy coming in to play guitar. It has to be somebody with experience and gravitas." As part of the same interview, Haug explained that he had received a phone call from Kilbey while he was returning home from a funeral. Without first greeting Haug, Kilbey simply asked, "If I asked you to join the Church, what would you say?", and ended the call after Haug's affirmative, but bewildered, response. Haug said that joining the Church was the "last thing" that would have entered his mind but that "it just really seemed to work".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Entitled Further/Deeper, the Church's 24th studio album was released on 17 October 2014 and was recorded over a period of eight days in late 2013.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> 2017 brought the release of the band's subsequent album, Man Woman Life Death Infinity, on 6 October. It was preceded by two singles, "Another Century" and "Undersea".

2020-present: expanded lineup, resurgence, and further critical acclaim

On 1 February 2020, Kilbey announced on Facebook that founding member Peter Koppes had departed the group to "explore his own musical path". He noted that, after more than forty years, it was natural for the band's lineup to evolve, and he praised Koppes for making "the hugest contribution to the Church's sound".<ref name="KilbeyFB2020" /> The announcement left Kilbey as the sole remaining original member. At the same time, Kilbey confirmed that touring multi‑instrumentalist Jeffrey Cain had been promoted to full membership and that Even guitarist Ashley Naylor had joined the lineup, alongside long‑time drummer Tim Powles and guitarist Ian Haug.<ref name="KilbeyFB2020">Template:Cite web</ref>

The onset of the COVID‑19 pandemic disrupted touring schedules, and the band was forced to cancel appearances, including a planned performance at the 2022 Corona Capital festival in Mexico City, after Kilbey and Naylor tested positive for COVID‑19.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During this period, the group concentrated on writing and recording new material. The Church returned in February 2023 with their twenty‑sixth studio record, The Hypnogogue. A concept album set in 2054, it tells the story of a fading rock star who uses a dream‑extracting machine to create music.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 29 March 2024, the band released their twenty‑seventh studio album, Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars. Conceived as a "companion piece" to The Hypnogogue, it continues the science‑fiction narrative of doomed pop star Eros Zeta. Several tracks, including "Realm of Minor Angels" and "Pleasure", were previewed during the band's 2023 North American tour, where the album was sold in advance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The release coincided with Kilbey's publication of a companion novel, Eros Zeta and the Hypnogogue, which expanded the storyline.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Church are set to support Crowded House along with Angus & Julia Stone, Mark Seymour, Vika and Linda, and the Waifs on the 2025 Red Hot Summer Tour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Members

Current members

• Steve Kilbey – bass, lead vocals, keyboards, guitars (1980–present)
• Tim Powles – drums, percussion, backing vocals, guitars (1994–present)
• Ian Haug – guitars, backing vocals (2013–present)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jeffrey Cain – guitars, bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2020–present; touring 2017–2019)
• Ashley Naylor – guitars, backing vocals (2020–present)

Current touring musicians

• Nicholas Meredith – drums, percussion (2022–present)

Former members

• Peter Koppes – guitars, keyboards, vocals (1980–1992, 1997–2019)
• Nick Ward – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1980–1981)
• Marty Willson-Piper – guitars, vocals, bass (1980–2013)
• Richard Ploog – drums, percussion (1981–1990)
• Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, percussion (1990–1993)<ref name="ARDb"/>

Former touring musicians

• Craig Wilson – guitars, bass, keyboards, backing vocals (2009–2017, 2021)

Timeline

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at:30/08/2004
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</timeline>

Discography

• Of Skins and Heart (1981) (released internationally as The Church in 1982)
• The Blurred Crusade (1982)
• Seance (1983)
• Heyday (1985)
• Starfish (1988)
• Gold Afternoon Fix (1990)
• Priest=Aura (1992)
• Sometime Anywhere (1994)
• Magician Among the Spirits (1996)
• Hologram of Baal (1998)
• A Box of Birds (1999)
• After Everything Now This (2002)
• Parallel Universe (2002)
• Forget Yourself (2003)
• Jammed (2004)
• Beside Yourself (2004)
• El Momento Descuidado (2004)
• Back with Two Beasts (2005)
• Uninvited, Like the Clouds (2006)
• El Momento Siguiente (2007)
• Shriek (Excerpts from the Soundtrack) (2008)
• Untitled#23 (2009)
• Further/Deeper (2014)
• Man Woman Life Death Infinity (2017)
• The Hypnogogue (2023)
• Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars (2024)

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual ceremony presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987. Template:Awards table ! Template:Abbr |- | rowspan="2"| 1989|| rowspan="2"| "Under the Milky Way" || Single of the Year || Template:Won || |- | Song of the Year || Template:Nom || |- | 2005 || El Momento Descuidado || Best Adult Contemporary Album || Template:Nom || |- | 2010 || The Church || ARIA Hall of Fame || Template:Yes2 || <ref name="aria hall of fame">"2010 ARIA Hall Of Fame Inductees Announced" Template:Webarchive Take40 Australia. Retrieved 2 October 2010.</ref> Template:End

Helpmann Awards

The Helpmann Awards is a ceremony celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by the industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001.<ref name=lpa>Template:Cite web</ref> Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Template:Awards table ! Template:Abbr |- | 2011 | "A Psychedelic Symphony" – 30th Anniversary Concert | Best Australian Contemporary Concert | Template:Nom | <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> |- Template:End

References

General

• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite encyclopedia Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
• Template:Cite book<ref name="NLAWho"/>

Specific

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Allmusic
• Template:Discogs artist
• Template:MusicBrainz artist