release date: Jul. 15, 1990
format: digital (2002 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Steve Kilbey
label: Karmic Hit - nationality: Australia
Track highlights: 2. "Vanishing Act" - 3. "Life's Little Luxuries" - 5. "The Amphibian" - 6. "Random Pan" - 7. "Pain in My Temples" - 9. "Goliath" - 14. "Music From Commercial for 'Eternity Inc.' " / "No Such Thing" - 16. "Remindlessness"
4th solo album from The Church frontman Steve Kilbey, originally released as a double vinyl lp on Red Eye Records - in 2002 released on the small label Karmic Hit (founded in '92 by Steve and his younger brother John Kilbey). The album is an 18-track release with a total running length of just over 78 minutes. Most of the songs are written and composed by Steve alone, and the material leans closely to the latest studio albums from The Church - a bit of a contrast to other of his more experimental solo releases. The reason for a closer bond with the material from The Church could be the band's dissatisfaction with the studio recordings for their latest album, Gold Afternoon Fix (Feb '90), where the record company interfered in the artistic decisions surrounding the creation of the album - and perhaps Remindlessness therefore could indicate a style of music, which Kilbey & Co. actually were looking for had they been offered more freedom in the studio.
I don't think that the album here is significantly better than the band's 1990 album, but Kilbey's solo releases are undoubtedly less mainstream and the album here represents a stronger independent expression with loans from The Church and its many sources of inspiration. It doesn't contain any obvious hits nor any sing-a-long material, and it's clear that Kilbey at this point has some years behind him since the early jangle pop days with the first albums with The Church.
Musically, the new compositions are somewhat more complex and the lyrical side is the continued focus on universal human subjects and thoughts about existentialism. And to finish the comparison with the latest release from the band The Church, Kilbey's solo album wins in the long run because you never stop discovering new details with each new listen of these rather complex and diverse tracks.
After this, Kilbey contacted musician Grant McLennan of The Go-Betweens and together they founded the joint project, Jack Frost.
