Forever Five: Steve Kilbey (The Church)

Waxx Lyrical
May 20
1 min read

Promo photo of Steve Kilbey from The Church

Few figures in Australian music have cast a longer, more enigmatic shadow than Steve Kilbey. As frontman and bassist of The Church—those seminal and shimmering dream merchants behind 'Under the Milky Way' and more albums than any other artist on AllMusic.com—he helped soundtrack generations of yearning misfits, romantics, and astral wanderers. But to reduce Kilbey to a single song, or even a single band, is missing the point entirely. For decades now, Kilbey’s remained a true sonic explorer: a painter, poet, provocateur, and endlessly prolific solo artist whose work spans decades and dimensions. He’s one of those rare artists who never really chases trends—he conjures worlds. Whether you caught him at the tail end of Countdown, mid-freakout at a solo art show, or commanding the stage with The Church in full transcendental flight, the impression is always the same: you’re in the presence of someone tapped into something deeper. And now, the man himself has offered up five records he couldn’t live without. Eclectic? Naturally. Cosmic? Of course. Deeply Kilbey? Without question.