Chris Church has been releasing one great record after another over the years. And the new one, RADIO TRANSIENT, to be released March 24th by Big Stir Records, is fantastic again; more pop than rock this time. Incredibly infectious pop, that is.

Wow, you seem to have reinvented yourself musically, or am I exaggerating? I hear a lightness I’m not sure I heard before.

I was interested in trying to combine the sound of The Fixx and the solo stuff by Lindsey Buckingham, for whatever reason. That’s how I got started on this album. I used my Danelectro 12 string electric guitar almost exclusively, and got that thin “silvery” sound. In the past I have only used that approach to my guitar sounds sparingly, but I have begun to realize that I work well with self imposed limitations, so I stuck with it. That pretty much forced a lighter sound. I insisted on making the vast majority of the songs on Radio Transient a faster, more kinetic tempo, and I think that is also a factor.

I dance to your new record just like I dance to the old Rick Springfield and Danny Wilde/The Rembrandts songs? Do you consider that a compliment?

Absolutely! Rick Springfield is criminally underrated as a songwriter. I absolutely love “Don’t Talk To Strangers”, “Love Somebody”, and several others. Both he and The Rembrandts have written some really sophisticated pop rock. “Rolling Down The Hill” is a masterpiece. I definitely take that as a compliment, and I appreciate it!

Your voice and Lindsay’s match very well. How did you find out?

I reached out to Lindsay to tell her how much I loved the excellent Gretchen’s Wheel album she made several years back called “Black Box Theory”, and we immediately hit it off musically. We’ve since become friends. She’s an amazing artist, and I think anyone would sound great if she was singing along with them!

Did Radio Transient come about differently than usual?

Not really. I just get the vibe that starts me on a new project and carve it out from there until it’s finished. Same as it ever was, but different every time!

Actually, all your records are well received. That will also be the case with this one, I write in all my wisdom 🙂. What do you actually think of that?

Your wisdom knows no bounds!

Going ‘Til We Go can also be found on The Best Power Pop of 2023 Spotify playlist.