One of The Church's peaks and a hidden gem
Pedro Javier Serra Serrano | Spain | 04/12/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Seance is a well balanced work, full of atmosphere (a bit dark), with great guitars, interesting synthesizers and Steve Kilbey's voice in top form. The only complaining is the mixing in which Nick Launay included some horrible artificial drumming, but that doesn't ruin the whole project. Some of the best Church's songs are here: Fly, It's No Reason, Disappear? and Electric Lash. The rest is also worthwhile."
Undiscovered gem
Everyones A. Critic | Sydney, Australia | 12/07/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This, the "difficult third album" for the Church is one of their best. It was originally released in 1983 during a period when the music world around them was moving from post-punk/new wave into the new romantic era. Significantly, Seance is the final full-length album of the band's "autocratic" era, after which songwriting became a more co-operative effort involving the whole band rather than songs penned solely by Kilby.
It goes without saying that the Church never really followed mainstream trends, however this album does feature a much more production-driven sound than their earlier albums - this perhaps in response to the synthesized sounds of the era. The band were reportedly uncomfortable with Nick Launay's drum treatments at the time, and unhappy about the guitar processing which they felt obscured some of the fine playing, but today the album sounds gorgeously crisp, and is much more sympathetic to the band's songs than the later reverb-soaked efforts like "Heyday".
The songs themselves are mostly excellent, especially the ethereal opener "Fly" which segues beautifully into the rousing "One Day". The album includes the strangely forlorn "It's No Reason" and the follow up single "Electric Lash" (which charted in the the top 10 in Australia). The closer "It Doesn't Change" is another standout track.
The album contains some of Kilby's strongest lyrics, and contains a diversity of moods and ambiences missing from some of their later albums. This is an undiscovered gem in the Church's extensive discography. Highly recommended."
Right up there
Todd Smith | Olympia, WA USA | 12/24/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"IT's nice to see that others' experience with The Church does not begin and end with "Starfish". "Seance" is a lovely album. It represents (as another reviewer quite properly pointed out) the myriad styles of Church music from "Of Skins and Heart" to "Heyday" and has few, if any, weak points."
