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Fans of The Church will be thrilled to learn that the groundbreaking Australian troupe is set to return with a new album next month. Lacuna will be released via Cooking Vinyl on Friday, October 30. Below is information that arrived via a press release about the forthcoming album (you can revisit The Church's legacy via this writer's review of the band's concert in Chandler, AZ in October 2023 HERE).
Most bands entering their fifth decade don't sound as refreshed, rejuvenated, and exciting as The Church. Bill Pearis wrote in the now sadly inactive Brooklyn Vegan, "Great to see them still going 40 odd years into their career and sounding as good as ever.” NPR also said recently, "Few bands enter their fifth decade of making music with all the fierce creative energy of their early years. Few bands are like The Church.”If you've been following the band as of late, you'd know that their last two albums The Hypnogogue and Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars, you'd know that The Church has gotten probably some of their best reviews that they've ever had. Those two albums were companion pieces, telling a narrative about a fading popstar trying to regain his popularity through a contraption that extracts musical ideas from dreams. Funny how that works, innit?
Lacuna releases him from that narrative, allowing band leaderr Steve Kilbey to return to his trademark psychedelic and thrilling dreampop that The Church have been exploring for the last four decades. The album kicks off with the atmospheric intro of crickets in "Lumbini Grove," ebb and flowing into a gorgeously layered landscape... before crashing into a tender melodic stunner, led by Steve's sparkling vocals. The infectiousness leads you by the hand right into the rest of the epic 17-track album, filled with the percussive and mesmerizing "Sky River," the celestially twinkly "Martian Skyline", the psychedelia of "The Place of Eternal Spring" before closing with the dramatic intro that leads into the cinematic "Sacred Echoes" - a shortened version was released last winter as "Sacred Echoes (Part Two)" (its video is breathtaking).
While it’s a seemingly rare occurrence for a band to continue making music into their fifth decade, even fewer top off that achievement with one of their most recent albums being named one of “2023’s Best Albums” by a venerable magazine like SPIN. But The Church did just that with The Hypnogogue, an album so adored by critics and fans alike that it ushered in an entirely new era for the Australian band.
Now armed with their 28th album Lacuna, the psychedelic dreampop legends continue to evolve and transform, remaining not only relevant but consistently delivering music that is innovative yet true to their signature sound. “Intense, forlorn, and exultant,” is how bassist/vocalist/founder Steve Kilbey describes the album.
The album opens to the natural sounds of crickets chirping, signaling a calm before a storm… and what a storm it is. From the open acoustic guitar chimes of “Lumbini Grove” which ebbs and flows with the muffled clashing of cymbals, Lacuna creates an atmosphere of quiet resolve and urgency. With a measured command of melody and instrumentation that only comes with experience and age, it’s an album rife with indelible musical clasps that fasten hold of your attention and refuses easy surrender. It’s a steadfast talent that Kilbey hosts close to his chest that’s been ever-present in the 27 albums that preceded it (best evidenced by the jubilant, nearly sold out 2025-2026 Singles Tour legs across Australia and North America, featuring night after night of incredible three-hour sets).
Coupled with Kilbey’s poetic and sometimes enigmatic lyrics, a multi-guitar textural atmosphere, and the hypnotic rhythm section, Lacuna unfolds like a secret hidden in a slowly unraveling origami, reveling in its complexity but revealing its hidden message in due time. These architects of neo-psychedelic dream-gaze embeds his metaphysical and esoteric lyricism deep within the shimmering, lush twin-guitar textures, often achieving absolute sonic transcendence.
The spacious architecture of “The Lemurian,” the chiming propulsiveness of the kaleidoscopic “Rapture” and the immersive and epic drone of first single “Sacred Echoes” (an edited version of the sprawling nine-minute opus was released at the end of 2025) display the measured diversity of the new album, held tightly together by the inherent chemistry and instinctive interplay of the sixpiece. Lacuna plays out like a cohesive post-punk opera with Kilbey’s poetic and dulcet vocals, firmly fixed in the spotlight centerstage.
Starting in 1980, The Church continued expanding their highly cinematic and atmospheric blend of indie rock, shimmering post-punk, icy dreampop and psychedelic post-rock without retreading their steps. Beginning with classic early albums Of Skins and Heart, The Blurred Crusade, and Heyday which built a sturdy foundation, 1988’s Starfish broke into the mainstream and gave The Church the international hit “Under the Milky Way.” The hit single has been regarded as one of the most influential and recognizable Australian rock anthems of all time.
The renowned six-piece line-up is made up of bassist, vocalist and founder Steve Kilbey; long-time collaborator, drummer and producer Tim Powles, who’s remained a staple across 18 albums since 1994; guitarist Ian Haug, who has been strumming with the band since 2013 and formerly of Australian rock icons Powderfinger; multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Cain from American alt-rock band Remy Zero who first joined the band as a touring musician before joining the band full time in 2020; Ashley Naylor, one of Australia’s finest guitarists and a long-time member of Paul Kelly’s touring band; and newest member Nicholas Meredith on drums. Soon entering their fifth decade as a band, The Church continue to remain a treasured creative force.
For more information on The Church, visit's the band official website HERE.
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Robert Kinsler
