Next month sees the release of elvis, he was Schlager, a full-length album from Stephen Buono’s Church Chords on Otherly Love Records. To say the project is built upon collaboration is to understate things, with the wide ensemble of musicians which constitutes Church Chords fundamental to its very existence. Devin Hoff (Julia Holter, Sharon Van Etten), John Herndon (Tortoise, A Grape Dope) and Ben Boye (Ty Segall, Bonnie “Prince” Billy) helped craft the core of the record before Buono enlisted a seemingly endless list of guests including the likes of Sam Barsh (Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar), Nels Cline (Wilco), Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Mark Shippy (US Maple), Josh Johnson (Leon Bridges’ musical director), Kenny Wollesen (Bill Frisell, Tom Waits) and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phoebe Bridgers).
In the end, Buono stepped back to allow the accumulated talent to do the talking. Becoming less of a creative leader of the project as the conductor shaping its potential into its best form. A communal form of songwriting which throws ego out at the door and instead pushes every available element towards its highest potential.
With lyrics and vocals from Kristin Slipp (Dirty Projectors), single ‘Alone Under The Water’ is a perfect place to dive into this singular achievement. It is also a great illustration of just how much influence the cast of collaborators had in moulding the album. “This is the first song to get lyrics,” Buono describes. “Until then, I thought this would be a collection of instrumentals. Had singer/lyricist Kristin Slipp not agreed to collaborate, this record may not have happened.”
Today I touched my leg
Touched my own leg to see if I was still alive
Touched my neck to see if my heart was still beating
I know what it is
I know
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And this was the case across the record. Take the comparatively up-tempo ‘Recent Mineral’. With Portuguese lyrics written by Ricardo Dias Gomes and sung by Genevieve Artadi, the song feels very different from the others. A shifting electro pop made dark and surreal with the drawl of distorted guitar. But there are also forays into downtempo electronica (‘Sweet Magnet’) and abrasive experimental post punk (‘Owned By Lust’), not to mention the krautrock-cum-darkwave of ‘She Lays on a Leaf’.
“For this song, I asked Nels to imagine John McLaughlin playing the opening guitar solo on ‘Mother Sky’ by Can,” says Buono of the latter’s inception. “[And] I love how co-producer John Herndon synthesized the solo to sound like I don’t know what.” What’s remarkable is how this genre-bending and collaboration just works. It’s bold and complex but also intuitive and cohesive, navigating what could be abrupt hairpin turns into different styles with smooth and stylish ease.
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elvis, he was Schlager is out on the 23rd February via Otherly Love Records and you can pre-order it now from the Church Chords Bandcamp page.
Photo by Matthew Gribben