Its been on spin these last few months, Australian outfit The Chruch's latest record is one Ive struggled to put into words. Its a moody yet colorful, uplifting yet melancholy ride with slight etchings of Ethereal, a hint of Psychedelia and a thick nostalgic vibe of the 90s spirit. The group have been at it for over thirty years yet they sound young and youthful on this, their twenty forth full length record. I knew little about them before writing this blog however its not surprising to learn there history, they do sound settled and mature in their songwriting.
So Further Deeper is reasonable record but one where the boundaries blur and the tone is tightly consistent. Often we journey through layers of reverb smothered instruments and steady percussion with tempered vocals that rarely break their stride. Its a drone, an easy, welcoming drone but its progression barely strays from the path song to song. There is rarely a break for something remarkable, moving or to create a big sense of change. The pianos chime pleasant chords under the wash of guitar reverbs and deep synths forming a haze together. Through it light leads and acoustic strumming can be heard but mostly these things add up to their total, which is often a dense tone to rock with.
Its difficult to break into words but at no moment in the record does anything progress or feel anchored. Its like a singularity and sometimes that is fantastic and other times it means each song feels like the last. Haven given it many many listens nothing remarkable has jumped out at me but overall its a dreamy sounding record you can soak into, I do however feel the vocals are rather stale. They more than anything else fail to break from a continual intensity.
Rating: 5/10