Untitled 23

Untitled #23 is the 20th full-length album by Australian rock band The Church. The band counts the three EPs of original material released in the early 1980s as album-type releases, making it their 23rd collection of original studio recordings overall.

The album was released 6 March 2009 on the band's own label, Unorthodox Records and Second Motion Records in North America. Praised for its moody yet strong songwriting, it has yielded some of The Church's best reviews of their career.

Australia's Rolling Stone praised the album with a 5 star review:

"You have to admire the Church’s stubborn refusal to cash in on their early success and do the whole nostalgia rock circuit thing. By hanging everything on the faith that their best work is still ahead of them, the Church sound every bit as relevant now as they did way back in 1987. Their new songs sound emotional, raw and at times even scarily angry, without ever sounding like they’re trying to conjure up demons-long banished by years of comfortable living and golfing trips." -Matt Coyte, Editor In Chief, Rolling Stone Australia (June 2009)

The album is rare among the band's catalog in that all lead vocals are sung by Kilbey, with lead vocal contributions by Koppes and Willson-Piper appearing on a companion EP titled "Pangaea," which serves as the single release for the album track of the same name. According to the band this was done to maintain a cohesiveness to the album rather than breaking the mood and elegiac tone with what are distinctively more upbeat tracks.

Along with the Pangaea EP, the band also released a second EP, The Coffee Hounds in 2009 prior to the release of Untitled #23.

In April 2010 the band embarked on their 30th Anniversary tour, playing an all acoustic set chronicling one song from each album played in reverse order. At each show, a full color retrospective program was distributed to each audience member along with the third EP from U#23, Deadman's Hand, containing the single along with four unreleased tracks from the Untitled #23 sessions.

In 2011 the album, along with Priest=Aura and Starfish, was played in its entirety on the band's 30th Anniversary, "Future, Past, Perfect Tour."

Track listing

1. "Cobalt Blue"
2. "Deadman's Hand"
3. "Pangaea"
4. "Happenstance"
5. "Space Saviour"
6. "On Angel Street"
7. "Sunken Sun"
8. "Anchorage"
9. "Lunar"
10. "Operetta"

In June 2009 the band launched the "So Love May Find Us Tour 2009", a month long tour of the United States and Canada in support of Untitled #23. The tour's name derives from the 17 minute epic track of the same name from the Pangaea EP, released in advance of the album. This song along with, "LLC" (sung by Peter Koppes), and "Insanity," (sung by Marty Willson-Piper) from the Pangaea EP also appear on a limited edition double vinyl LP released through Second Motion and the band's own Unorthodox Records.

In 2010, to coincide with the band's 30th Anniversary Tour the band gave away copies of the "Deadman's Hand" EP with every ticket purchased. The CD contains the title track plus "Stardust," "The Kicker," "Dakota," and "The Garden," all outtakes from the Untitled #23 sessions.

Personnel

• Steve Kilbey: Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Keyboards
• Marty Willson-Piper: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Backing Vocals
• Peter Koppes: Guitar, Bass, Backing Vocals
• Tim Powles: Drums, Backing Vocals, Guitars