A gorgeous, folk-tinged, solo effort from Divorce’s Felix Mackenzie-Barrow.
Of all the albums we should have finished a review for last year, Divorce’s ‘Drive To Goldenhammer’ is probably top of the list. We missed it prior to release, and one listen told us that it wasn’t something you could just talk about after a couple of plays. It is probably the one that got away from our Top 50 Albums of 2025 as well. Divorce are a fantastic band, on the rise and with huge potential to go on to bigger and better things. This Book of Churches project came together in between moments on tour, where Felix Mackenzie-Barrow wanted something to anchor and focus him. The outcome is a slower, more meditative set of tracks than his main band offer.
This album has been made in a proper DIY manner. Two microphones, a few guitars, a normal room and no real production experience. Felix describes his process during this as “kind of naive.” Songs were written in one day, recorded the next, and then handed over to Richie Kennedy (Divorce, Interpol, The Last Dinner Party) for mixing.
In terms of style, both Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen have some agency here. Arrangements have a simplicity to them, but also a lot of warmth. That same warmth is carried in Mackenzie-Barrow’s vocals which mostly feel very rich and comforting.
There is some outstanding story telling buried in here. Observations expressed with depth and character. Neither too obvious nor too oblique. On ‘Hard Ride:’
“The morning came I drove alone
Pulled up beside a worn out crow
On the lawn dead roses strewn around
The woman in the shop was kind
Missed her husband since her husband died
I looked around and gave her my goodbyes”
Quite a bit of this album revolves around a relationship that has come to an end. ‘Song By A Stranger’ has this wonderful image: “I could have been what you needed But I locked all the keys away.” An incredible metaphor for being emotionally distant.
‘The Quiet Was A Heron’ revolves around two herons. The first, the incongruous image of a heron flying over a festival field – what must we seem like to it? The second, the bones of a heron found in a garden – how did it end up there? There is a quiet anger simmering underneath the beautiful singing and playing.
If you come at this album as a Divorce fan expecting more of the same you might end up disappointed. This is its own world, its own reality. There is a quiet beauty here, a great eye for detail. An artist who has been compelled to create a lot of music over the last couple of years, but has not been diluted or spread too thin.
Essential Tracks: ‘Song By A Stranger,’ ‘All The Good Things’ and ‘The Quiet Was A Heron,’
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