Many people probably left the Church behind sometime around the fadeout of "Under the Milky Way." Given the path the band has taken since, it's members are probably OK with that. And those fair-weather fans? It's definitely their loss.

Thirteen albums after the band's breakthrough with Starfish, the group has issued its best album in a decade or more. That album, Untitled #23, is the band's 23rd, and it is proof positive that acts with a deep enough creative well can continue to make music for years and years that sounds of a piece with its back catalog while mining new territory.

Untitled #23 makes no compromises. There is no single here, no uptempo rocker to throw radio's way. These dense soundscapes don't even necessarily stand out one from another until the orientation afforded by several listens takes hold. But it is a stellar effort despite those challenges. Things begin and end in two places: Steve Kilbey's one-of-a-kind vocals and the chiming guitar interplay between Marty Wilson-Piper and Peter Koppes. Those are the touchstones that let even the casual listener know that this is a Church record.

These songs glide rather than punch, insinuate rather than declare. Kilbey's vocal is still the focus, but Koppes and Wilson-Piper are willing to let their sinewy guitar lines wash over the listener in a gauzy tapestry while Tim Powles' drums nudge things along. Some have stronger hooks than others -- you''ll sing along with "Pangea," for example -- while others are more about setting a mood.

It's a great time to be a Church fan. Never mind that on an album-by-album basis the band is on a roll (2006's Uninvited, Like the Clouds was another fantastic album), but the musicians have been particularly prolific of late. The Church itself has added to the 10 tracks on Uninvited #23 with six extra tracks spread over two new EPs. "Pangea" gets its own EP with three non-LP B-sides (including one each by Wilson-Piper and Koppes, as well as an 18-minute bliss-out called "So Love May Find Us"), while the Coffee Hounds EP includes vocal and instrumental versions of "The Coffee Song" as well as a cover of Kate Bush's "The Hounds of Love."

Kilbey and Wilson-Piper also each have recent, well-received solo albums: Wilson-Piper's Nightjar and Kilbey's Painkiller. In addition, Kilbey is the latest collaborator in Pocket's series of digital EPs, contributing vocals to the track "Hear in Noiseville." The song offers a dancier context than Kilbey usually inhabits, but Pocket's dense songbed offers a warm seam that Kilbey fills with his distinctive vocal. It's on Pocket's forthcoming third EP in the series (the first was with Robyn Hitchcock) and is due July 21.

The band's "So Love May Find Us" tour continues through the second week of July in the U.S. in Canada. Kilbey took time out from all of that to offer a few enigmatic responses to some straight-forward questions. Anyone seeking more of this type of Kilbey-speak would do well to check out his fascinating blog, where you can find it in abundance. For those seeking a look at the band in performance, the group's visit to KCRW's "Morning Becomes Eclectic" show can be found here.

TIRBD: Moving soon into your fourth decade, how are you able to keep things fresh when you approach material that you've played for 10, 20 or even 30 years?

SK: good material is always fresh.

By the same token, having created music together for 30 years, do new ideas come from a different place than in the past? Is it an effort to ensure that something that feels new isn't simply a restatement of something that came before?

we build on the past.
who can tell where ideas come from...?
the heart and the mind as always

Untitled #23 feels like a very cohesive statement with a remarkably consistent tone. Were things left in the studio that didn't fit that feel, or did everything come together this week organically from the outset?

we recorded a lotta stuff
lotta stuff still in can
we are very random

Your music is cited as an influence on bands whose members weren't even alive when you formed the band. Do you hear a Church vibe in current music? Are you, in turn, influenced by newer music?

i rarely hear an influence from us in other bands
i doubt a new band would influence me at this stage of the game

You and Marty each have several solo albums to your names, and I wonder how these outlets ultimately affect the work of the Church? Are they a release valve, a way to experiment, or perhaps something else?

my records are what i do on my own
i have no different approach whatever i do
i just do whatever strikes me at the time

You each also excel at the visual arts. Beyond having built-in cover art for releases (Marty's photos and drawings on Untitled #23 and Nightjar, respectively) and your painting on Painkiller), what does this outlet do for you that making music does not? Does one inform the other in any way?

yes visual n musical art come from a similar methodology but have
different physical applications
you gotta get au fait with the visual world
think shadow instead of echo
think background instead of backing track

As you embark on a U.S. tour in support of the new album, what will the set lists look like? With 23 albums to your credit, is it difficult to fit in everything you want to play -- and the fans want to hear -- each night?

impossible to play one song from every album even
we just have to figure out a set that hits all bases

Labels: Monday Interview, music