Church of Trees THE NEW ALBUM, COURAGE sur LRdR I Can't Be Loved - Rob Stuart Bhangra Mix
Church of Trees is a Canadian synthpop/electropop project that launched its debut EP, “Primitive Creatures” in February 2017. The EP helped them build an international audience from Japan and the UK to France, Germany, the U.S. and Canada. The EP drove to number one on campus radio charts across Canada, and it finished the year on a host of 2017 Top Album lists. Between 2018 and 2021, Church of Trees dropped 3 fulllength albums (“The Dark & The Light”, “New Bold Dawn”, and “PAUSE”) spawning a series of number 1 singles on campus and indie charts, including Like Gary Numan, Scream in Silence, and the 2021 pandemic anthem World’s a Bitch that featured legendary Rough Trade vocalist Carole Pope, and former Spoons and Honeymoon Suite keyboardist, Rob Preuss. In 2022, they released the highly successful album “Pish Posh”, which featured new vocalist Stella Panacci. The album spawned the hits Believe It Or Not, Just a Little, Sticky, and Progression. The new EP “Courage” (drops May 5, 2023) is a collection of remixes featuring productions by Slave to the Squarewave’s Rob Stuart, Paragon Cause, and former Spoons/Honeymoon Suite keyboardist Rob Preuss. The lead single “Progression – Rob Stuart Numanoid Mix” (drops April 8, 2023) sees Stuart transforming 2022’s Progression into a darkwave masterpiece combining elements of Gary Numan and Trent Reznor. The album also features a pulsing Bhangra treatment on 2018’s I Can’t Be Loved and what will prove to be an instant club hit, the trance-like Paralyzed. The core of Church of Trees is singer, songwriter, and avid ‘synthesist’, Bernard Frazer who launched the project in 2016 with original vocalist/lyricist Felicity DeCarle (niece of Prairie Oyster’s Russell DeCarle). “I grew up on the synth music of the 80s and desperately wanted to fuse it with flavours of more contemporary artists!” To that end, Frazer is not shy to pay homage to some of his favourites, such as Gary Numan and Depeche Mode, while adding splashes of Chvches, Alvvays, and Halsey. A regular Church of Trees contributor is former Spoons/Honeymoon Suite keyboardist Rob Preuss, whose more recent work includes acting as music director for Broadway’s Mama Mia (working directly with members of ABBA) and as Rami Malek’s coach for the film Bohemian Rhapsody. “Rob and I met in 2017 and immediately started exchanging musical ideas”, says Frazer. Working as both co-writer and official remixer, Preuss is a perfect addition to the Church of Trees sound. “He is a whiz at production, and he is such a brilliant player, plus he has been immersing himself in synth music for 40 years! “We are incredibly fortunate to have him on board!” says Frazer. All Church of Trees albums are co-produced by Frazer and Blinker the Star’s Jordon Zadorozny, whose musical pedigree is considerable. Formerly signed to A&M and DreamWorks, Zadorozny has worked with such notables as Courtney Love, Chris Cornell, and Lindsay Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac). In fact, Buckingham has included a Zadorozny song (Swan Song) on his latest album. “Jordon's a godsend", says Frazer, "not only does he offer sage advice in the pre-production phase, but he is also a gem in the studio. He listens to every nuance and makes sure he captures our best performances." Church of Trees music can be found on all streaming services as well as Bandcamp and the band’s own website churchoftrees.com.