Steve Kilbey & Gareth Koch Release Second Single 'Lost At Sea'

UPDATE:

‘Lost At Sea’ looks set to exceed the streams of the first collaborative offering from Steve Kilbey and Gareth Koch, Broken Toys (50K + streams on Spotify). ‘Lost At Sea’ has notched up 7000 streams in only its first two weeks of release!

‘Lost At Sea’ also sitting at #1 on the SoundsLikeCafe Chart, getting serious amounts of spins in cafes all around the country.

The video for Lost At Sea is out now. Check it out at YouTube here!

Gareth Koch just announced the exciting news that the duo will be returning to the studio this October, to record several tracks including one called Thylacine (the scientific name for the extinct Tasmanian Tiger).

Koch recently talked about the song with British music journalist Jason Barnard. “The idea was to write a soulful ballad filled with ocean and journey references,” he explained. “Musically it harks back to a tuneful and almost Italian style of writing. The harmony owes a little to J.S. Bach’s ‘Sheep May Safely Graze’, as does of course Procol Harum’s ‘Lighter Shade of Pale.”

He also talks about how he ended up writing music with Steve Kilbey, saying he’s been a fan since seeing The Church way back in 1980 at The Mosman Hotel in Sydney!

For the full interview, head to thestrangebrew.co.uk.

(photo credit: Tony Mott)

“I’m just a guy holding the pen” is the poignant opening line of the recent Steve Kilbey & Gareth Koch collaboration ‘Lost at Sea’.

The statement seems innocent enough at first glance, yet it elegantly addresses the mystery of creativity. How does art come into being, and is the creator just a filter or medium for the creative process?

The sentiment is even more interesting given the background of the two protagonists. Steve Kilbey, perhaps best known as the frontman of veteran rock band The Church, has a lifetime of esoteric lyrics to his credit. Kilbey’s themes pose questions and riddle-like answers. Perhaps this is why his lyrics continue to engage us. Gareth Koch on the other hand, a Viennese-trained guitarist/composer, has explored the nature of creativity head-on in his PhD thesis. Perhaps between the pair, Kilbey & Koch might have some answers.

These considerations aside, this collaboration has yielded a truly beautiful and timeless ballad. There is a wistful and haunting lilt to ‘Lost at Sea’, as it floats seamlessly through a narrative of stolen hearts, voyages into solitudeand roaming in no-man’s land. And to compliment these lyrics is a delicious instrumentation, weaving and wafting, ghostly and waif-like, present yet elusive.

This is possibly why this collaboration works so well. Kilbey & Koch are both masters of the esoteric form. As they step sideways from their respective genres this coming together highlights a close aesthetic connection.

‘Lost At Sea’ is sure to follow in the footsteps of the first collaborative offering, Broken Toys, which last week was sitting pretty at #1 on the Radio Indie Alliance chart: