Kim Churchill, a classic Australian folk icon, delves into the story of each of his twelve tracks on his seventh studio album
It’s Lovely To Have You Here, Kim Churchill’s latest offering, is a unique sonic landscape, giving us acoustic interludes and catchy riffs.
Celebrating the memories, stories and people that have shaped him throughout his life, Churchill delivers lyrics that wrap you up in a warm embrace and inspire you to keep moving.
He shared that, “After many solo years in the back of my van, I have found love and a new partner to share the journey with. It’s definitely a bit of an ode to our relationship and adventures as well.”
It’s an album that won’t disappoint, and having insight from the man himself makes it all the more rich. Dive into Kim Churchill’s track by track below.
Clarity
I’ve been writing this song for over 10 years now. I’d always play the guitar part, especially when I got that lovely still feeling of being content. It would happen in all kinds of different moments and environments, so the song kinda follows that random adventure.
I loved working with my friends Josh and Felix on cello and French horn for this one. They really brought that landscape to life.
A Eulogy for Jane Bitter
I wrote a eulogy for a made up person. This was a poem I wrote in my first year travelling after high school. I think it’s a person I aspire to live like. Writing this song has also helped me understand my feelings around death.
The sadness and the grief is the other side of the coin to love and connection. I guess it is always a process of mourning and celebration all at once.
Flying Solo
A song for the beautiful moments where we find ourselves deeply enjoying time by ourself. Much of life feels like it is done in solitude – one way or another. There’s a real joy in the quiet morning walk through the bush with no one around and nowhere to be.
The Wayside
I’ve noticed a reality to the moments in my life that initially felt wasted – to paths or people I invested love or energy into that didn’t last. And that reality is that most of those moments make sense eventually. In fact many are full of beautiful blossoming truths.
That love I felt and created. That hope I forged and dedicated myself to. It’s all still there as a part of my story. And as time goes by, I look back and see many beautiful flowers blooming by the wayside.
Hobbies
I was super inspired by a watercolour painting of a frog I saw on the internet wearing cowboy boots. Above, it had the text ‘You don’t have to be good at your hobbies’. It dawned on me how true that is. You just do them for fun and to learn.
But it felt more profound than that. Like… this is true for all of life. We’re here for a little slice of time and all we can do is enjoy ourselves and learn. We don’t have to be amazing at it. Just enjoy the ride and learn as we go.
Hope
This is a song about the connectedness I feel to my parents. When I’m with them and even when I think of them. They connect me to who I am and help me feel like myself again. I’m scared for life without them one day and I think I delve into that fear and sadness in this song.
Reflecting
Some days, when I’m truly calm and quiet and present, I really do feel myself in everything. In the waves. In the mountains. I think we are all inherently connected and can learn so much about ourselves through the world we experience. This song is a celebration of embracing that world and dancing the dance with life.
The Garden
This is a song about anxious attachment. I’m certainly guilty of often mistaking this feeling of ‘I’m only ok if they’re there’, with love. But it’s a dangerous feeling that can lead you to do yourself a lot of harm.
I wanted to explore and sing about my own struggles with anxious attachments and what it can feel and look like.
Calm the Sea
I’ve never been very good at writing love songs but this one was easy as! I’ve been in a really beautiful and nurturing relationship for the last year and it’s filled me with contentment.
Jackie Chan
I was always very moved by his characters. He was a great role model for me. Especially in a world where it’s hard to find a decent male role model. He, and my father, were helpful in showing me what kind of man I wanted to be.
I was always moved and inspired by him as a kid and one day I just started singing this song out of nowhere. I felt the urge to follow the strange little song down its path.
Wonder
I wrote this about chasing down day dreams and seeing where they lead. About finding yourself somewhere you never thought you’d end up. About following a path purely to see where it leads.
Willow Child
I think this song calls to a very gentle and vulnerable part of who I am. The child at my core. He’s lost sometimes or quiet or covered up by all the ‘adult’ stuff. This song takes me back into my child and my own vulnerability.
Head here to listen to the album in full.
