Album Review: The Church - Further/Deeper

It almost wouldn’t suit the narrative of The Church’s fractious history unless each ongoing step came with some wrinkle. Thus, just as things seemed close to comfortable, one pillar of their so-awkwardly balanced chemistry – guitarist Marty Willson-Piper – isn’t part of an album which was hoped would continue the perhaps unexpected quality of the previous, Untitled #23.

The enthusiasts worried when former Powderfinger guy, Ian Haug was announced as replacement. But, as you let Further/Deeper wash over you there are still those cross-currenting guitar textures that are one signature of the band. Witness the vistas of Pride Before A Fall, or the spirals of Delirious – which will sit easily alongside a Church standard like Tantalised as end-of-set wig-out. Peter Koppes’ filigrees still have their intricate charm, Haug perhaps providing a more choppy nervous energy than his predecessor.

And then there’s Steve Kilbey. His moods from song to song – even within them at times – often remain obtuse as he regards you and the music with a knowing arched eyebrow. And almost before you realise, you’re following the geography on his terms. There are a couple of those perfectly mysterious Church ‘pop’ songs: the drive of Old Coast Road has you wondering where it will lead – and to what end. Even more so, the acoustic/electric Laurel Canyon is a near-perfect radio song – if they even deal in such concepts. While such songs provide the immediate hooks, this is another album where the layers, puzzles and sidetracks will reveal more of themselves as you live with it.