Rock fans often view a band’s classic lineup with a sort of sacred affection. Any disturbance to a longstanding combination tends to be met with severe disappointment. Sydney psychedelic dream purveyors The Church have just released their 25th album,Further/Deeper, and for the first time in the band’s recording career, guitarist Marty Willson-Piper is absent. In his place is former Powderfinger lead guitarist Ian Haug. He certainly has big shoes to fill, but Haug didn’t cower under the pressure.

“Luckily the first jam and the whole recording process came where it was all new stuff,” he says. “I thought, ‘Yeah, I’ll bring it. I’ll try to step up.’ There was nothing to lose, really. If they went, ‘Nah, we don’t like what’s happening here,’ it would’ve been like, ‘OK, cool, that’s fine.’”

Ever since The Church’s 1981 debut, Of Skins And Heart, intertwining electric guitars have been a prominent feature of the band’s sound. So for Haug’s entrance to be worthwhile, it was essential he made a creative contribution. Considering The Church’s long history, stately critical standing and avid global following, this could have been a rather intimidating task. But Haug says being invited to bring things to the table made the initiation fairly organic.

“It wasn’t like I was just coming in to be told what to do. They were extremely encouraging and non-limiting to anything. There was no preconception of what it should be like. Because it’s new shit, nothing’s really technically wrong. We all seemed to be on the same page with where it was all going. I was put at ease pretty quickly.”

While Haug’s previous band was one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of Aussie rock, his presence doesn’t mean Further/Deeper is a stab at mainstream success. Recorded earlier this year, the release is an hour-long journey, featuring 12 elaborately drawn and melodically lush compositions, with nary an obvious chorus in sight.

“It’s by no means an easy listen,” Haug says. “I think there’s quite a bit of depth to it. We couldn’t stop ourselves. We wrote it all as we were recording it and it pretty much was just all a big jam session. It’s not going to be to everyone’s taste, which is fine. That’s the way art should be. I think it’s good if things polarise people.”

Further/Deeper mightn’t include anything acutely similar to iconic Church singles, such as ‘Under The Milky Way’ or ‘The Unguarded Moment’, but it’s undeniably The Church. Right from opening number ‘Vanishing Man’, the constituent parts combine to generate a strikingly familiar and strangely comforting sensation.

“I think there is a certain sound that The Church have, whatever it is,” Haug says. “It’s not even that it’s similar to something that they’ve done before. There are several moments on the record where it really strikes me as sounding very Church-y. Like, the bridge of ‘Pride Before A Fall’ and the whole of ‘Old Coast Road’ to me sounds pretty Church-y.

“There’s definitely moments when Peter [Koppes] and I, our guitars entwine to meld into one thing which sounds like The Church. And obviously [Steve] Kilbey’s voice is so iconic as well. When I would be playing and I heard him singing, it was like, ‘Fuck, this is The Church.’”

Powderfinger weren’t quite vendors of soulless pop music, but a large portion of their material did possess radio-ready appeal. The Church, on the other hand, specialise in surreal soundscapes and sometimes dramatic sonic density. Despite the seeming contrast, Haug says this wasn’t entirely unchartered territory for him.

“That’s what Powderfinger always wanted to do anyway, and we always did have a certain amount of songs that were a trip as well. Then there happened to be some radio songs, because there were certain people in the ban d and in the organisation that encouraged it.”

By all accounts, Haug’s transition into The Church has been largely seamless, but that doesn’t mean his perspective exactly mirrors that of his fellow band members. In fact, given he’s also a long-time fan of the group, his differing perception became an asset.

“I probably heard it in a different way than the other three did. If we’d be playing something and someone would say, ‘Oh, that’s too much like the old Church,’ I was like, ‘That’s why people like you. Come on, let’s just do it.’ I think they were a bit reticent to do stuff like that and I was like, ‘Guys, this is awesome – it just sounds good.’”

A national tour now follows the release of Further/Deeper, on which the band will perform the record in its entirety. While many among The Church’s devoted following are likely to approach Haug’s performance with especial scrutiny, he’s confident that this journey’s only just begun. “I’ve been accepted as part of it and we’re going go and tour around the world next year together, so I’m definitely part of a unit. Hopefully we can do more records. It was definitely artistically inspiring for me and I think for everyone.

“It is just music, when it comes down to it,” he adds. “There’s fucking bombs being dropped and Ebola and bad stuff everywhere, so if we can make this beautiful music that lets people have a trip away from all of that, then great. We couldn’t ask for anything more, and it’s great to be part of a band that does that.”

Further/Deeper out now through Unorthodox /MGM. Catch them atOxford Art FactoryonSaturday October 25, tickets online.

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