Welcome to the Hypnogogue !
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By Tom Lanham
ometimes , great art can become something like a snowball as it tumbles downhill after its initial creation , colliding with – then absorbing – many other diverse mediums , expressions , and even creators themselves as it goes . Take , for example , Australian author Jane Harper ’ s riveting mystery novel from 2016 , The Dry . It lures you in from the first page and won ’ t let go until it ’ s wended its serpentine , violencespattered way to a surprising , truly satisfying conclusion , as federal agent Aaron Falk receives a note from the father of his former childhood friend Luke Hadler , who has allegedly just killed his wife , son , then himself in the small droughtravaged town of Kiewarra . The ominous message reads simply , “ Luke lied . You lied . Be at the funeral .” Falk has no choice but to reluctantly return home from his police job in Melbourne to a place he ’ d hastily departed two decades earlier under a cloud of suspicion involving the unsolved drowning death of his then-teenage girlfriend , Ellie . And sure enough , the resentful old-wounds fireworks kick off the moment he arrives .
On its own , Harper ’ s book is a great one . But – given the colorful characters and conversely bleak backdrop she ’ d sketched – naturally , The Dry was destined to go much further . And , oddly enough , as it kept rolling , it even grew to include Aussie artist Steve Kilbey and his band The Church , who – bandleader Steve Kilbey was surprised to learn – had made an impact on the mythical hamlet of Kiewarra , as well . In Robert Connolly ’ s razor-sharp 2020 film adaptation of the bestselling novel , starring Down Under legend Eric Bana as Falk , The Church ’ s breakthrough 1988 smash “ Under the Milky Way Tonight ” is featured not once , but twice , and feels almost synonymous with the stark Outback landscape Falk
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must navigate as he unearths one false lead after another to eventually solves both crimes , old and new , almost simultaneously . First , the song is crooned a cappella by campfire light by Ellie in two-decades-old flashbacks , and she explains its importance to her afterward with , “ My mom used to sing it to me , over and over and over .” Later , the actress , 26-year-old Bebe Bettencourt , daughter of rock royalty , Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt and Baby Animals front woman Suze DeMarchi , presides over an even more elegiac piano version of “ Milky Way ” during the closing credits , and it ' s dreamy , almost otherworldly wispiness somehow manages to perfectly summarize the picture . Harper herself even has a cameo as one of the Hadlermourners .
And , of course , Kilbey isn ’ t resting on his glory days laurels at a seasoned , still-cynical 68 . The Church has a brand-new concept album out , The Hypnogogue , its 26th , and it gleams with potential hits every bit as chiming and charming as that Dry – reinvigorated definitive early work , like the galloping “ C ’ est la Vie ” which considers the possibility of becoming irrelevant ( as the record ’ s protagonist does ) with “ Watch out tiger / You ’ re on the skids . Falling out of favor / With the kids ,” the sleighbell-toned jangler “ I Think I Knew ,” a jittery “ The Coming Days ,” and an arena-huge anthem called “ No Other You ” that recalls vintage early- ‘ 80s classics like “ The Unguarded Moment .” Buttressed by the newly invigorated triple-guitar threat of Jeffery Cain , Ashley Naylor , and ex-Powderfinger stylist Ian Haug . In the end , it ' s Kilbey ’ s ethereal pneumatic warble and – by his own faux-journo-speak definition in the lyrics – “ reptilian bass ”: that hold sway , especially as the melodies get more psychedelic and prog-rock intricate on “ Antarctica ,”
“ Ascendance ,” and the six-minute epic “ Succulent .” Although the album ’ s theme seems a bit MK ULTRA-creepy – a washed-up singer / songwriter consults a ceramic-masked mystery woman who , through apparent covert hypnosis , sucks song ideas out of his head , possibly the last bastion of his personal privacy – Kilbey convincingly sells it , even though he ’ s not sure how this twisted predator vs . prey parable ends . And just what , exactly , would constitute an actual victory ? The aim of the notorious Sidney Gottlieb-helmed CIA MK ULTRA experiments from the ‘ 50s , ‘ 60s , and ‘ 70s was to completely , albeit subliminally , alter an individual ’ s personality and behavior without their knowledge or permission , and they came uncomfortably close .
So Steve Kilbey doesn ’ t necessarily need to fall back on past successes like “ Under the Milky Way .” He ’ s just as relevant today as he ’ s ever been . But happy to take a bow for it , 35 years later , from his home in Sydney . When he first penned the number with then girlfriend Karin Jansson back then , neither he nor the band thought much of it , he recalls . It was one more cut for the L . A . - recorded and best-selling Starfish album . But when their Arista Records honcho Clive Davis heard it , he instantly proclaimed it a hit , and Davis was rarely wrong . Its ensuing worldwide success didn ’ t sit well with Kilbey , who was growing tired of major label machinations ; When the song took Single of the Year honors at the 1989 ARIAs , he refused to attend and claim his trophy and commented , “ I don ’ t give a fuck about winning that award .” He ’ s changed his tune , now that it ’ s become a revered Australian standard , covered by countless artists over the years , including Bettencourt ’ s take on piano , the original instrument he wrote it on before transposing it to guitar . And the licensed usages of “ Milky Way ” just keep coming . “ There was a Ford commercial , and twice it ’ s been used as a tourist thing , a song to get visitors to go to the Australian capital territory , where Canberra is ,” Kilbey says . It ’ s just all over the place , and it was a piano song before it was a guitar song , so it can be either , and I think it sounds good either way .”
The story didn ’ t end with the film credits . When The Dry had its Down Under premiere at an open-air theatre , Kilbey was invited to get up on stage to sing “ Under the Milky Way ” before the movie ran – a nice touch , underscoring the track ’ s enduring appeal and importance . The singer was even given a front-row seat alongside the Bana-to-Bettencourt cast . And then ? “ How ’ s this for irony ?” Kilbey chuckles . “ It rained ! And they gave everybody raincoats and ponchos , but I couldn ’ t leave because I had my guitar and everyone in the cinema , two hundred to three hundred people , would see me . So I had to sit there , getting rained on , and watch a movie called The Dry . I was obliged to .”
Still , nice work if you can still get it after a four-decade career in show business . He rationalized all of it in the following good-spirited , Which complements our mid-pandemic , more climate-change-themed chat ….
IE : Jame Harper ’ s book The Dry is set in the fictional Australian town of Kiewarra that ’ s been plagued by drought . But the film really hammers it home , with shots of grain silos all marked ‘ Contaminated ,’ clearly showing how weather can destroy an entire area ’ s economy . Climate change was definitely coming . STEVE KILBEY : Climate change is here . But I
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