An Interlude

by Heyday2day

Another fine song that holds its place well. From the dream pop of Almost With You, the frenetic, but controlled swirl of When You Were Mine, the melancholic, yet somewhat hopeful Field Of Mars to An Interlude. To my ears, this song carries the unique characteristics of the three previous tracks, yet the band does it in a way that makes the sum greater than the parts. Because of that, I have always seen this track as ambitious, with wonderful energy and superb musicianship. Lyrically, beyond the first verse, I'm not really sure what Kilbey is on about. I know what it means to me but that hardly qualifies. The first line of each verse is double tracked with a slight delay. Kilbey's voice on top with a female voice slightly off center- underneath . This little trick gets me every time, it lends weight to the first line of all three verses. I also really dig how the female voice only speaks her line and stops there. The past tense is just Kilbey......."she said", "she smiled", "she laughed". This lends weight to not only what she is saying but also how he feels about it. Before the first big break between the 2nd and 3rd verses, we have classic early Church. Guitars each playing their own melodies, wrapping in with each other, creating layers of notes. Ploog's playing is subdued, never really overshadowing the textures being created by Willson-Piper and Koppes. After the second verse, the tempo changes a little, ringing notes become strummed chords, Ploogs up front now and Koppes picks out a fitting for the mood solo. A little aside, one of the many things I love about the Church is that it is always a band thing and not a me thing, service to the song is the top priority. Koppes does this and the tempo falls back into the shades again and the third verse is sung. The last line of "an interlude for the busy staff" immediately takes us into the next tempo change. Again, everything fits, from the chop chop chords at the 3 minute mark to the stinging lead lines and running hi-hat fading out.