The Church: Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars (digital outlets)

Since Elsewhere's interview with the Church's Steve Kilbey in 2018 – now the sole remaining member of the original line-up after the departure of Marty Willson-Piper in 2013 and Peter Koppes in 2019 – he has nudged the band into areas which appeal to him.

In our interview a great deal of the conversation was about myth and magic, esoteric books and art, Lewis Carroll and much more. Not really rock'n'roll banter, but Kilbey is a serious man and big thinker.

That manifested itself on the Church's 2023 album The Hypnogogue, a concept album which we admit was hard to decipher but still had enough of the psychedelic dreamscape rock which was the band's hallmark.

It wasn't an easy album and now comes the follow-up which is apparently a companion volume-cum-continuation of the concept of a rock star in 30 years time (it's a dystopian future of course, aren't they always?) who has a machine which can turn dreams into music.

Setting all that aside because it hurts the head to contemplate, we address here the music which settles into that colourful psychedelia (with some solo Lennonesque nods on Pleasure), early Bowie (Amanita with its spoken passages, Sublimated in Song, Song 18, The Weather), melodic prog-rock (The Immediate Future) . . . and they are just in the first 10 of the 15 songs.

Unfortunately despite Kilbey's best efforts to adopt different vocal styles (the lightly declamatory on Manifesto to soaring Bowie-like balladry on Korea ) there is a sameness here which, when added to the conceptual nature, make for listening which borders on an assignment rather than the journey Kilbey no doubt wanted it to be.

That said, there are some sublime songs and clever pop (the catchy and menacing throb of Song From the Machine Age) here which pick things up.

But as with The Hypnogogue, this is the Church painting on a huge canvas so we will simply repeat what we said about that one: Very much a case of turn on, tune in and drop what you're doing for at least an hour.

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You can hear this album at Spotify here