Product Description
The Church – C’est La Vie (Single)
Release Date: December 1, 2022
“C’EST LA VIE,” the new single from seminal psych-guitar masters THE CHURCH, continues the
retro futuristic narrative that began with the release of the title track from their
upcoming album THE HYPNOGOGUE (release date: February 24, 2023 via Communicating Vessels).
Reading like a short story from visionary science fiction author Philip K. Dick, (“A Scanner
Darkly,” “Electric Dreams”), the dystopian fable revolves around the mythic machine that
extracts music directly from subconscious dreams.
While the single “The Hypnogogue” introduces characters Sun Kim Jong (Korean
scientist/occult dabbler and creator of the aforementioned contraption) and her love
interest/rockstar Eros Zeta who wants to employ the machine to revive his flailing career,
“C’est La Vie” continues the narrative which serves as a cautionary tale from Zeta’s agent
not to mess with the Hypnogogue. “His manager has heard some bad rumors about it and he
doesn’t want his boy all strung out on this unknown thing,” explains STEVE KILBEY, the
bassist, vocalist and founder of The Church. “Musically, the song is a fast-paced rocker
very much initiated by our guitarist Ian Haug. But it has plenty of twists and turns and
ends up fading away in a delicate and winsome way.”
“The Hypnogogue is the most prog rock thing we have ever done. ‘We’ve also never had a
concept album before,” he says. “It is the most ‘teamwork record’ we have ever had. Everyone
in the band is so justifiably proud of this record and everyone helped to make sure it was
as good as it could be. Personally, I think it’s in our top three records.”
Entering their fourth decade of making music and playing live shows with all the fierce
creative energy of their early years, The Church have announced a North American tour that
kicks off on March 11th in Los Angeles and circles the States, concluding on April 8th in
Pelham, TN.
Starting out in 1980, The Church have continued to expand their highly cinematic and
atmospheric blend of indie rock, shimmering post-punk, icy dreampop and psychedelic
post-rock without any retread. Their expansive music career yielded a string of hit songs
including “Under the Milky Way,” “Reptile,” “The Unguarded Moment” and “Almost With You”
amongst others and their equally stellar live shows have been deemed “spectacular” by MAGNET
Magazine, citing their “dreamy psychedelia that will daub your evening with shades of
paisley.” Their most recent U.S. performance at 2022’s Cruel World Festival alongside
Blondie, Bauhaus and Morrissey was heralded as “a subtle delight… that captivated the late
afternoon audience” (Orange County Register), “providing the perfect soundtrack” (Rock
Cellar Magazine).
The 2022 epic five-piece line-up is bassist, vocalist and founder Steve Kilbey; with
long-time collaborator Tim Powles, drummer and producer across 17 albums since ’94;
guitarist Ian Haug formerly of Australian rock icons Powderfinger, who joined the band in
2013 and Jeffrey Cain (Remy Zero), touring multi-instrumentalist who is now a full-time
member of The Church since the departure of Peter Koppes in early 2020. The band have also
recruited Ashley Naylor, long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band and one of
Australia’s finest and most respected guitarists (Even, The Grapes, The Stems).
