Book of Churches announces debut album with lead single ‘Song By A Stranger’
The solo project from Divorce’s Felix Mackenzie-Barrow will be released on March 6th.
Photo: Press
Divorce’s co-vocalist and guitarist, Felix Mackenzie-Barrow, has shared details of his first solo project under the name Book of Churches, announcing that his debut album of the same name will be released this March.
Despite Divorce having their busiest year yet in 2025 – releasing their debut album Drive to Goldenhammer, playing gigs across the UK, and debuting in Europe and North America – Mackenzie-Barrow found time to work on his own material in rare snatches of downtime on the road.
Each song was written one day, recorded the next and left largely untouched until the album was handed over to Richie Kennedy (Divorce, Interpol, The Last Dinner Party) for mixing. Charting lost love, dread, grief and anger, the album’s lyrics were pulled from notes he kept on his phone while on tour, and in the aftermath of a breakup.
Mackenzie-Barrow said, “It feels a bit like a travelogue. In some ways, when I wrote these songs, I was talking to the person I was no longer in a relationship with – just saying hello. Sometimes, the songs were attempts at looking for a North Star that I could speak to. It’s this idea of how big the world is, and how precious those few connections that you have with people are, and how you can feel those so acutely across vast spaces and times. Book of Churches is basically a metaphor for how I felt making these songs. These songs are like my version of whatever church is.”
Opening with lead single Song By A Stranger, which is out now, the album will feature the comfortingly warm yet stripped back arrangements that define this heartfelt track and the record’s wholly intimate nature.
Created through a writing process that he describes as “incredibly DIY” and “kind of naïve,” Mackenzie-Barrow’s first album is set to carry the kind of timeless minimalism that is reminiscent of the likes of Nick Drake, Fionn Regan and Leonard Cohen.
Alongside this announcement comes the news that Felix will be hitting the road in April, and ending his first UK tour on May 1st in Nottingham.
Full UK tour dates:
23 April - The Hope & Ruin, Brighton, UK
25 April - The Castle, Manchester, UK
26 April - The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, UK
28 April - Belgrave Music Hall, Leeds, UK
29 April - The Cube, Bristol, UK
30 April - St Pancras Old Church, London, UK
01 May - Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK
Book of Churches’ self-titled debut album is out March 6th via Gravity / Capitol. Presave here. Tickets for the tour go on sale from January 9th at 10am here.