Sea Wolf

As Sea Wolf, Alex Brown Church has kept us ensnared in his world of gorgeously lush and longingly moody tales of gypsies, wolves, foggy coastlines, redwood forests, metropolitan nightscapes and precarious loves since his 2007 debut. With his new album Old World Romance, released in September on Dangerbird Records, Church continues the story, delving into new territory. An NYU film school graduate, and northern California native, Church has always taken the auteur’s approach to Sea Wolf, infusing his lyrics and imagery with his experiences from the romantic grandeur of the West to the old school classicism of the East. But while the scenes he paints in his songs reflect his dual penchants for dramatic natural landscapes and the headiness of urban life, under the surface they are most often about periods of change. It was one of those periods that brought Church back to California to write and record Old World Romance, the third Sea Wolf album. While not confined to the concept of "home”, it is in many respects a homecoming album, its creation coming after the songwriter returned to his artistic base after three momentous years away. "Some significant things happened for me while I was living in Montreal, but life happens all the time to all of us," Church says. "A lot of the album is about facing realities, reconnecting with who you are. And a lot of that came from this complete sense of rediscovery of where I'm from — not so much L.A., but the West Coast in general. I felt a resurgence. I felt like this is where I belong." Ensconced in his home studio for the first time since he worked on his first Sea Wolf album, Leaves in the River, which was completed in Seattle with producer Phil Ek, Church was able to refine his craft, and readdress his old way of writing and recording. Mostly on his own, on his own time, with his live bandmates contributing here and there over the course of a year and a half.

Photo Credit: Mia Kirby