AFTER EVERYTHING NOW THIS

[Twelfth in a series] "Hologram of Baal" set a new standard for The Church and, for the second time (but not the last), I was sure they couldn't top themselves. And again I was wrong. "After Everything Now This" contains more of the extreme textured atmospheres featured on "Hologram" - which have now become a "signature" sound for them - while adding new dimensions of sound and texture to their songwriting. / "Numbers" has another glorious Kilbey lyric, supported by a comparatively "laid back" arrangement of great guitar figures, solid bass and drums, and increasingly present atmosphere. "After Everything" opens with a simple textured acoustic guitar and bass line, moving into a beautiful, quiet arrangement with a neat bridge figure on guitar and bass. "The Awful Ache" is another beautiful Kilbey ballad, underpinned by a "space-"filled atmosphere of echo-guitars and keyboards, moving into a three-quarter-time break, and returning to the original arrangement. "Song For the Asking" is a uniquely Church composition, with another nice Kilbey song-poem supported by a deceptively simple arrangement of textured guitar, tambourine, piano and synth. "Chromium," another Church original, is a sound-filled arrangement of crazily textured instruments and vocals, and a neat rhyming lyric. "Radiance" - my favorite track, and one the band's best ever - is one of Kilbey's most poignant song-poems, and another fabulous original Church arrangement with a great bass line, nicely textured guitars, subtle keyboard, and the now-"trademark" Church atmosphere. A true gem. "Reprieve" - with another great Kilbey lyric - has one of the band's most amazing arrangements, including a truly "psychedelic" chord progression, plus great textured tremolo guitar, and a crazy guitar solo toward the end. "Night Friends" is another quasi-paranoid Floydian composition, this time centered around piano, "floating" synth, cabasa, simple drums, and a defining guitar figure. "Seen It Coming" is a nice, almost retro-60s light rocker, with a bird-like guitar figure, a nice keyboard figure, and a Byrd-like chorus and break. "Invisible" is an extended, ultra-hypnotic arrangement including a "scratch" guitar, textured keyboards, sound effects, and yet another neat Kilbey song-poem. / Although slightly "lighter" in texture overall than "Hologram", "After Everything Now This" shows that the band is comfortably maintaining, if not adding to, its unique amalgam of prog-rock sensibilities, keeping them among the most creative, interesting and compelling prog-rock bands currently writing and performing.