The Church - El Momento Siguiente (2007)

The Church's third decade was one of wide-ranging activity, covering everything from fiercely exploratory neo-space rock to what proved to be a series of acoustic albums, reworking many songs from the group's now considerable back catalog. Thus the case with El Momento Siguiente, the sequel to 2005's El Momento Descuidado -- the latter is Spanish for "The Unguarded Moment," so perhaps it is no surprise the newer one translates as "The Following Moment." With cover art and general approach similar to the previous disc, down to containing 14 songs total, arguably much of the interest in El Momento Siguiente lies in what the band chose this time around; as before, the group wisely looks through most of its career, from Seance's "It's No Reason" and "Electric Lash," to "Pure Chance" from Uninvited, Like the Clouds. If less of a pleasant surprise than El Momento Descuidado, the new album again shows that the band's considerable skills seem only to improve; the rich feeling of so many of the performances belies the deathly dull label of "going acoustic" as has so often been the case with other acts. Hearing the sharp electric riff opening "Reptile" turned into a calm then almost jaunty piano piece -- even while Steve Kilbey's bass feels like it's about to suddenly explode -- or "Tantalized" turned, via a new arrangement, into a perfect piece of sitar-laden drone pop even George Harrison would be jealous of, make for highlights on their own. Perhaps the most delightful curve ball comes with the opening song, though -- a stately, wonderful take on the Triffids' "Wide Open Road," resulting in a deft salute from one legendary Australian act to another now long gone. All this and there's still more the band could do in the future in this vein -- a total reworking of Priest = Aura alone would be majestic.