Editor’s Pick: Matt Church’s new album takes rock’n’roll and shovels it into a psychedelic time warp
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03.05.2019

Editor’s Pick: Matt Church’s new album takes rock’n’roll and shovels it into a psychedelic time warp

By Tom Parker

It's an intriguing effort from the songwriter.

Matt Church takes rock’n’roll and shovels it into a Pink Floyd psychedelic time warp. His guitars are stretched and skewed to the outer edges of their capability, creating an immersive experience that takes you on a journey through space.

Commencing the expedition with the minimalist instrumental 12-minute track, ‘Approaching the River’, the scene is set for a crusade akin to something as ominous and intrepid as The Lord of the Rings.

Shooting through The Milky Way on the stripped back number ‘The Universe is a Garden’, the cosmic dust thickens for the album’s title track which brings Church’s David Gilmour-like guitar solos to the fore and sees the songwriter pervade the far reaches of his hallucinogenic state.

In what is largely an album of wild instrumental reconnoitring, drums act only as a steadier to the warped guitars atop the throne. ‘The Story of Diego Gelmirez’ is evidence of this, while ‘Spiritless’ sees Church adorn a baritone as he tells a story of hopelessness.

For Matt Church and The Golden Apples, The Valley The Starlight In The Stream is a project of try once, fail, and try again. Patiently crafted, there’s meticulousness to every note and musical shift – a diligence that wouldn’t have been foreign to Roger Waters.