Church Of Trees celebrate Canada Day with the new album Thief Of Joy and the single Say No To The Liars — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Mixed by Mark Plati — best known for his work with David Bowie through the late ’90s and 2000s, including the ground-breaking Earthling — Say No To The Liars combines the vibe and sonics of vintage synth-pop with powerful lyrics with pointed lyrics that are up to the minute.
Thief Of Joy is the Ottawa band’s seventh album of original work (not including their remix album Courage and the compilation Progression). “It is a pretty big departure for us” says bandleader Bernard Frazer.
The album covers a lot of ground, from the guitar-drenched electro-rock sounds of Strange Life and The Angry Sky, electro-funk crackers like Mystery Boys and Just Don’t Get It to ’80s synthpop bangers like Say No To The Liars and Going Nowhere.
“A big part of that change in direction is the killer band that helped put it all together”, Frazer beams. Along with longtime Church Of Trees contributors Jordon Zadorozny (Blinker the Star, Courtney Love) and singer Stella Panacci, they recruited Quebec’s Nicholas Carriere on guitar and drummer Gordon McLaughlin.
Lead vocal duties are primarily down to the brilliant Panacci, but Frazer also lends his rich tenor to the songs The Likes Of Us, Mystery Boys, and Say No To The Liars. Lyrically, the album explores concepts of alienation, isolation, and global discord.
Church Of Trees’ 2017 debut Primitive Creatures (2017) charted in Japan, the U.K., and across Canada. 2018’s The Dark & The Light featured the No. 1 single Like Gary Numan. 2021’s Pause spawned the hit World’s A Bitch, featuring Canadian rock provocateur Carole Pope.
Listen to Thief Of Joy and watch the video for Mystery Boys below, and find Church Of Trees on their website, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
