Aussie psych legends THE CHURCH are back with a brand new single and video.
'The Hypnogogue' is the first taste of the band's long-awaited new album which is due in early 2023 and follows on from 2017's acclaimed Man Woman Life Death Infinity.
The single is also the first release by the band's new line-up, which sees founder, bassist and singer Steve Kiley as the sole original member since the departure of guitarist Peter Koppes in 2019. The band is completed by longtime drummer Tim Powles; ex-Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug, who joined in 2013; multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Cain, and the most recent acquisition, guitarist Ashley Naylor, who came on board in 2020.
Speaking about 'The Hypnogogue', Kilbey explains, “Invented by Sun Kim Jong, a North Korean scientist and occult dabbler, it is a machine and a process that pulls music straight of dreams. The song is about Eros Zeta the biggest rock star of 2054 who has travelled from his home in Antarctica (against his manager’s advice) to use the Hypnogogue to help him revive his flagging fortunes. In the midst of the toxic process, he also falls in love with Sun Kim and it all ends tragically (of course…as these thing often do).”
The video was directed by filmmaker Clint Lewis, who's worked with the band on a number of previous videos. “I gave the director a lot of input into this video but he took my ideas and ran with them and came up with a fair bit of stuff I never envisaged,” says Kilbey. “The Church appear on screens in the Hypnogogue as workers in the system, translating the dreams of users into real time music. I’m very happy with the way it all turned out. It’d be hard to get a better result!”
Released through Communicating Vessels/Unothodox, 'The Hypnogogue' is available to stream/download here.
Pic by Hugh Stewart