ALBUM REVIEW: The Hypnogogue – The Church
Australian psych rock legends THE CHURCH first formed in shadow of the Sydney skyline in 1980. Over the last 43 years the band have gained a reputation for spectacular live shows and have been hailed as the godfathers of Australian psych rock. Six years after their last outing on 2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity, and transitioning from a four-piece to a five-piece, THE CHURCH return with their proggiest album yet. The Hypnogogue is a mighty concept album set in a dystopian future which channels layers of complex emotions and human fears through juxtaposed dreamlike atmospheres and elegant guitar and vocal melodies. After four decades the Australian legends are still bursting with youthful energy and creative fire.
Set in the not too distant future of 2054, The Hypnogogue tells the story of a despairing, desperate and dystopian world created by fictional North Korean scientist and occult experimenter Sun Kim Jong. Of course, THE CHURCH’s tongue-in-cheek reference to the current events taking place in the world is not lost on you, but the album itself is significantly more nuanced. The Hypnogogue feels like music plucked straight out of the strange dreams of someone influenced by media and propaganda, intertwined with delusional conspiracies and misinformation. THE CHURCH have made a significant effort to make sure that you are fully immersed in the album’s narrative, and with an Orwellian undertone it feels like a sharp observation and dire warning for what could be coming in for us in the next three decades.
Musically, The Hypnogogue is steeped in rich, ornate layers of psychedelia, imbued with late 1980s and early 1990s post-rock and bound together with a thread of gothic eccentricity utilised by the likes of THE CURE and ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN. Deeply atmospheric, plaintive and pensive, there is consistent melancholia that transcends the album. It creates a space in which you can be fully immersed in inward reflection whilst simultaneously feeling that you’re in someone else’s mind, caught between their vivid delusions and daunting reality. As a result, there is a haunting beauty to the album that grips your curiosity to see where it leads. It maintains a steady pace throughout but uses subtle dynamic shifts and luscious vocal harmonies to stir your emotions in ways that you don’t necessarily expect.
As the album progresses it increases in intensity; the layers grow and swell at a much faster rate as the record builds to its climax with Antarctica, while the final track Second Bridge seems to connect it back to the first song Ascendence by descending into discordant madness. The cyclical nature of the album reinforces the crazy, disillusioned and dystopian dream narrative THE CHURCH were aiming for, as the central protagonist seems doomed to repeat his darkest thoughts until his demise. Ultimately the album has a chilled out vibe that lulls you into a false sense of security that is underlined by a tingling eeriness that keeps you on edge. With that in mind, THE CHURCH’s years of in-depth genre knowledge and psychedelic songwriting experience really shine through in a spectacularly nuanced way.
With so many things going on underneath the surface of this album, no words could do the songs complete justice. However, there are a number of stand out tracks on this 65-minute dystopian musical odyssey. Firstly the aforementioned opener Ascendence sets the tone, as it seems to come out of a discordant madness. Soaring guitar lines introduce us to this strange and not too distant world and as it leads into the melancholia of C’est La Vie. Six-minute epic and title track The Hypnogogue really showcases the proggier direction that THE CHURCH have gone in for this album. With multiple transitioning sections and subtle melodies it is like a miniature climax in this strange musical narrative. Aerodrome reminds you of THE CURE classics as its jangly guitars, luscious synth melodies and sorrowful vocals are splendidly gothic and melancholic. Antarctica is where THE CHURCH ramp up the energy and introduce more distorted guitar riffs and steady rock drums, yet it still maintains the spaced out and eerie atmospheres despite the strong drum presence. Overall the album feels like an elaborate poem about the grand delusions of a man seeking domination without fully thinking through the cost.
The Hypnogogue is a complex, proggy, nuanced and mystifying album that draws on four decades of songwriting experience and utilises a wise perspective on current affairs to create a haunting narrative of one man’s despotic visions. The album’s slower pace only adds to the eeriness and with their gothic sensibilities, THE CHURCH have proven once again why they are considered the godfathers of Australian psychedelic rock. The Hypnogogue is an album certainly worth exploring.
Rating: 8/10
The Hypnogogue is set for release on April 28th via Easy Action Records.
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