Speed Of The Stars, a collaboration between STEVE KILBEY of THE CHURCH and FRANK KEARNS of CACTUS WORLD NEWS is to be issued on vinyl this week for the first time.
The album is being released on double vinyl and CD by Easy Action Records as part of their ongoing programme to reissue Kilbey's expansive solo and collaborative back catalogue.
The two musicians met while the Australian psych legends and the Irish alt-rockers were on tour in the US in 1986. It wasn't until 1998 that the pair began working on the project, when Kilbey travelled to Dublin. They finally completed the project when the album was released on CD in 2016, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign.
The new edition is augmented by two brand new Kilbey/Kearns collaborations 'Sir Francis Drake' and 'Red Star'.
“One of the best albums I’ve ever made,” Kilbey says. “An album about the natural world and history and mythology. An album trying to reconcile past and present . The constant dialogue between the living and the dead. The new tracks are lighthearted. In contrast to some of the other more philosophical stuff. The new songs are Speed Of The Stars just enjoying themselves.”
“For me the music represents a journey of releasing our emotional burdens and every time I listen it creates good vibrations deep down in my memory,” Frank adds. “I see it as my best work to date.”
Speed Of The Stars is available to pre-order on vinyl here and on CD here.
This Autumn also sees the rerelease through Easy Action of Kilbey's 2020 solo album Eleven Women and 2021's The Hall Of Counterfeits by Kilbey with The Winged Heels.
The label also released The Church's widely acclaimed album The Hypnogogue earlier this year.
A career-spanning double Kilbey anthology, Bespoke Wheels & Winged Heels, is due in the new year.