SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHURCH OF TREES – TRANSIENCE

CHURCH OF TREES
TRANSIENCE
INDEPENDENT

Church Of Trees released its debut EP, Primitive Creatures in 2017. A brilliant debut, that demonstrated that this band, and its main driving force, Bernard Frazer, had a lot to offer and that they were destined for great things. They continued to produce a long list of brilliant albums, which fulfilled that prophecy. Transience is their sixth studio album, and it not only shows great growth in the band since their beginning, but is their best album to date. Frazer, once again, shares production credits with Jordon Zadorozny (Blinker the Star). This is a wise choice, as Zadorozny adds a very subtle and dark edge to the music. And this is exactly what the songs on Transience needed. This is a dark album, musically and lyrically, and it has been produced and arranged to perfection.

The album opens with the electro beat “That’s All”, that has a very pleasant and almost happy melody, but don’t be fooled. This song reflects Frazer’s disdain for the economic state of the world “Greed burns down the heart of the Amazon, money-love and cheats at the heart of it all”.  Very powerful words and set to the rather pleasant beat, it makes it all the more disturbing. Kellii Scott (Failure) provides the steady beat, as he drums on the track.  Elsewhere, songs like “Desolation”, full of biting guitar and great vocals from Frazer, who sounds a little like a late 1970s David Bowie. But it is still Frazer. He has his own style and sound.

Heather Brazeau (who arranged the majority of vocals on the album with Frazer) and Stella Panacci provide the perfect vocals for the music. “Start Again” is an excellent example of the brilliant use of vocals and the layering of the singers. The harmonies and backing vocals bring the song to life and create a wonderful atmosphere. Also, listen to how Frazer’s vocals mix in with Brazeau and Panacci for the song “Lost In The Ether”, a song that cries out to be remixed and released as a single.

The album is very diverse sounding and features fantastic instrumentals, “Vapour” and the closing track, “Butterfly”, which ends the album on a potentially positive note. Both songs are full of emotion, brilliant playing and suggest that somewhere deep down, Frazer has an instrumental album screaming to get out. Rob Preuss (Spoons, Honeymoon Sweet) does an amazing job remixing the pop song “It’s Over” and Rob Stuart (Slave 2 The SquareWave) brings a great deal to his remix of the catchy “Where Is Love”.

In many ways, Transience represents a huge step forward for Church Of Trees. Over the years, album to album, Bernard Frazer’s Church Of Trees continues to grow and not only expand its sound but the lyrics as well. Frazer has outdone himself by expressing himself throughout the album and the end result is a brilliant manifesto set to some stunning music.

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