Seventeen tracks and a gap to fill: The Church on Lacuna

Transmission 436: Interview with The Church

The Church formed in Sydney in 1980, in the middle of the city’s pub rock explosion, and have made 28 albums since. The latest, Lacuna, is released on October 30 through Cooking Vinyl. It runs to seventeen tracks, opening with the slow swell of “Lumbini Grove” and closing with “Sacred Echoes”, a long piece whose climaxes lean toward the orchestral. Forty-six years in, the interlocking guitars still sound like a band with nothing left to prove and plenty left to wander into.

Steve Kilbey describes the title as the gap between the previous record and this one, and then every other gap: “the space between falling asleep and the first dream.” The songs themselves, he says, are stand-alone vignettes rather than a sequence, and the words tend to arrive in about ten minutes. “Forever” began when Ashley Naylor played chords on a grand piano and Kilbey sat down beside him; the lead single, “Western”, was recorded in Austin, Texas, by a songwriter who grew up watching Westerns on television.

The line-up is a six-piece: Kilbey, Tim Powles on drums and production, Ian Haug, Jeffrey Cain, Naylor and Nicholas Meredith.

Mystery is always important. That’s what it’s always been about. The ongoing mystery of every single thing in this world.”

—Steve Kilbey

What shaped your musical taste before you became a full-time musician?

Listening to records my Dad owned. Musicals(!). The radio. Watching bands on TV. Magazines.

Did the atmosphere you grew up in shape your worldview and early music?

My father was a piano player and that certainly was an influence. When the Summer of Love came along in 1967 I was 12 and that was of huge importance to me. I soaked it all in. Every new Beatles record shaped and reshaped my reality.

How did The Church first come together in 1980?

I was writing and demoing songs on my TEAC reel to reel. I had re connected with Peter Koppes who had been a band with me some years earlier. He knew a drummer and we started to rehearse. It was the Sydney pub rock explosion and there were plenty of gigs to be played. Marty Willson-Piper came and saw us and I invited him to join because he had a good image. We did some demos, got a deal and we were away.

My childhood is a huge source of my lyrics. I feel like I was tripping 24 hours a day in those days.”

—Steve Kilbey

After 46 years and 28 albums, how has your relationship with your own back catalogue changed? Is there an early song you could no longer write today?

I marvel at some of the songs I wrote and wonder if I could have written em today! I think some of the old stuff is still pretty good especially the Blurred Crusade. There were definitely some clunkers along the way but that’s Rocknroll isn’t it? I’m proud of most of the early stuff, though.

Lacuna means a gap or something missing. What absence were you exploring with this title?

The gap between our last record and everything leading up to this one. That gap and all gaps. Anywhere where there is a sense of absence. The space between falling asleep and the first dream.

I just sing about less ephemeral stuff that will have meaning longer than what is going on in 2026.”

—Steve Kilbey

You compared the album to a secret hidden in a slowly unraveling origami. Is the mystery part of the point?

I’m not sure where the origami bit came from actually but it’s not entirely inappropriate. Mystery is always important. That’s what it’s always been about. The ongoing mystery of every single thing in this world. Where did we come from. Where are we going. It’s all in there. And the mysteries always lead to more mysteries…

“Western” was recorded in Austin, and you grew up on Westerns on TV. How much of your childhood ends up in your songs today?

My childhood is a huge source of my lyrics. I feel like I was tripping 24 hours a day in those days. The incredible and ridiculous TV shows were a source of wonder and delight. And the Westerns filled our screen accompanied by my dad’s constant comments about the cowboys (he was English and didn’t like the cowboy thing) so it’s no wonder it’s all percolating, going round and round and manifesting as song lyrics.

That gap and all gaps. Anywhere where there is a sense of absence. The space between falling asleep and the first dream.”

—Steve Kilbey

Your lyrics are often described as metaphysical and esoteric. Do you believe in the things you write about, or is it simply a poetic language for you?

I certainly believe in some of it. Of course I have to gild the lily a bit to turn it into songs. But generally speaking I stand by what I sing. I’m often not sure where it all comes from or how much of it is true but I’m not a fraud or anything ha ha.

You said the lyrics of “Forever” fell out of the sky. Does that kind of sudden inspiration still happen often?

Yeah they all fall out of the sky usually meaning that I don’t sweat over the words, they come quickly and easily. Within 10 minutes I usually have the whole thing.

Is there a common thread running through the tracks on the album, or are they separate portraits?

No common thread really. The songs are all pretty much stand-alone. Vignettes from a life. Chapters from a book.

Tim Powles has played on 18 albums since 1994 and also produces. How does that dual role shape Lacuna?

All of our roles change and grow and mutate. I stepped back into being the (co)producer with our last 3 albums but Tim always has good advice and very down to earth view on the whole recording process. He is an invaluable member of the team.

Outside of music, which art forms (literature, visual arts, film) most heavily influence your lyrics and soundscapes?

Well I’m always on the lookout for inspiration. It could be from anywhere. Overheard conversations. A manual full of jargon. A painting or film for sure. Books of course. Wherever I can find it.

How do current world events or political climates seep into the somber tones of your recent work?

I try n avoid current events and affairs. I find it dates your music. If your whole schtick was to criticise say Margaret Thatcher… what do you do when she is finally vanquished? So I just sing about less ephemeral stuff that will have meaning longer than what is going on in 2026.

Are you currently working on new material? Could you give us a glimpse of your next project?

Strangely I am not! I wish I knew what I will do next!

Photos courtesy of The Church