I had been a fan of The Church for a long time and then I sort of drifted away . . . .  Many life-changing things have happened since 1995 and was not as fervent about seeking new releases from some of my favourite bands.  In fact, considering the turmoil they had been going through personnel-wise I thought they were on their last legs.  I loved Sometime Anywhere but with only two members the future looked bleak.

Fast forward 22 years.  I’m attending a Dream Syndicate show in Los Angeles (Dec. 2017)  and I see a guy with Church tour shirt . . . And it’s recent!  I asked if The Church had gotten back together.  He looked at me with a confused expression and said, “They’ve never broken up.  You should really check out their new album.  They’ve been coming out with great ones for years now.”  This shows how great my psychic abilities can be.

Fast forward to March 2018.  I finally decided to pick it up.  Now, for the last few months or so, I have become addicted to it.  I still don’t rate it better than my favourite, Priest=Aura but close.

In fact, Priest=Aura and MWLDI start similarly with a doom-ridden synth wash.  A signal that somethings off kilter with the world.  Like any Church album MWLDI takes several listens to fully get.  There is always enough to intrigue you and want to relisten.  Before you know it . . . you’re hooked!

For me, it was the opening track, “Another Century” that began the intrigue.  The abstract lyrics,the infectious mood music and the plaintive voice that sings, “How can this happen to me once or twice?” pull you in.   As with a lot of their later music there is always one or two tracks that hinder me initially.  For this one “Submarines” cartoon-like guitar following this surrealistic lines “City in a desert.”  It seemed unnecessary.  The music was great, the imagery was good, why ruin it?  We know these things are transforming why hit us over the head with it?

I have eventually gotten over this.  Ahh, but there was another hurdle, “For King Knife.”  This one is not the Church’s fault.  After one listen, I made the mistake of reading a review of the album.  This review pointed out that the beat resembled those used by the girl groups of the early sixties.  From then on I kept on expecting them to bust out with their version of “Leader of the Pack!”

I have eventually gotten this as well (mostly).  Then you get into the meat of the album beginning with “Undersea” with its hypnotic quality equating the unconscious with the undersea.  The undercurrents of what we do are just as obscure.  Meditative Psychedelia at its best.

Then it goes into one of the most “Church-like” tracks.   “Before the Deluge” could fit on any album in their catalog.  It’s also a good song to listen to on the highway.  In fact, one could make an assorted collection of great travel songs by the Church.  Could make your next road trip one to remember!  This song has many quotable lines such as “Life is a distraction in the dream” and “Life is a sequence in a routine.”  These lines make it excusable that the chorus is “Something so huge . . . before the deluge!”  In fact, the Church frame their music so wonderfully that they could get away with lines no other band could.  Sometimes their songs are straight narratives or about very specific things but many of their songs are abstract and just waft into the ether.  They just permeate the air like incense.

“I Don’t Know How I Don’t Know Why” is the most commercially viable song on the album.  A very catchy song.  Obvious candidate for first single release.  But what did they choose for their first single?  “Undersea!”  I think that was intentional, though.

Then the album falls into a sort of fog, a dark eerie place that you have to feel your way through.  The titles tell you as much . . . “Face In A Film,” “In a Fog,” “Something Out There Is Wrong” and “Dark Waltz.”  It is kind of indicative of our time.

Another thing that  makes this album great is that clocks in at an easily digestible time.  70+ minutes can be too long to take in album as a whole (at least on one disc).

I have caught up on a lot of the Church’s releases that I’ve missed and I can still say that this their most solid album from end to end since Priest = Aura (and that’s saying something!).  Everything I love about the Church is on this album (even without Marty Wilson-Piper).  The two newest players play on this album and the one before it (Further Deeper) like they have been playing this band forever.  If you not listen to this album, I heartily suggest doing so.  If you have and are still not convinced, give it a few more listens and it will envelop you until you are hooked on it (like me).