Haven’t heard of Canadian band Church of Trees? Well, keep reading and get ready to thank me.

The band currently consists of core members Bernard Frazer (vocals, synths, programming), Stella Panacci (vocals), Heather Brazeau (vocals), and Bob Prendergast (guitar). Frequent contributors are Rob Preuss of Spoons/Honeymoon Suite (piano, synths, programming, bass, remixes), and Rob Stuart of EDF/SLAVE To The SQUAREWAVE (synths, remixes).

My first experience with Church of Trees’ music was hearing “Like Gary Numan” on David Marsden’s NYTheSpirit.com stream.

Being a late-in-life Numan fan (roughly the past 25 years), this track both delighted me and piqued my curiosity about the band. Fortunately, David Marsden is a big fan also; so, David’s avid listeners have been delighted by hearing several outstanding Church of Trees songs taken from their successful EP and album releases since 2017 (Primitive Creatures, The Dark & The Light, New Bold Dawn, PAUSE, and Pish Posh). All Church of Trees albums are co-produced by Frazer and Blinker the Star’s Jordon Zadorozny.

Which all leads up to the purpose of this post: A new Church of Trees single – “Progression/Rob Stuart Numanoid Mix”—is slated for release on April 8, 2023. The track is from the forthcoming Church of Trees Album Courage, scheduled to drop on May 5. Mark your calendars, folks—you do not want to miss out on either event. Here’s why:

“Progression” is a very suitably named song. It progresses (see what I did there?) from a very Laurie Anderson-esque intro into the best Numan-influenced industrial/synth recording you’ve ever heard via Rob Stuart’s gorgeous, swelling electronic melodies.  His synths are lush, multi-layered, and everything a synth-lover like me could want in a track. Lead vocals are calming, emotive, and beautifully executed by Bernard Frazer, who also amazingly provides harmonic, excellently delivered back-up vocals to complete this magnificent work.

It’s one of those tracks where the more you listen to it, the more it speaks volumes to you.

Watch this space for more information about the release of the Church of Trees LP Courage. In the meantime, get ready to be enchanted by its first released track “Progression/Rob Stuart Numanoid Mix” on April 8, 2023. On that date, get on over to churchoftrees.bandcamp.com for your copy—it will leave you in breathless anticipation of what’s yet to come from Courage.