Memorials tonight – recorded in session for John Kennedy’ program on Radio X on November 29th.
MEMORIALS are an experimental pop band creating cosmic journeys into psych rock, far-out folk and wild analogue electronics, fired by the spirit of free jazz, drawing comparisons to Broadcast, Portishead and The Velvet Underground.
The duo of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms formed in 2022 just before the release of their film score work, with two soundtrack albums released on the same day in 2023 – Music For Film: Tramps! and Music For Film: Women Against The Bomb. Their music is incredibly varied yet retains its own distinctive identity and is produced entirely by the two in their own studio, utilising analogue recording techniques, reel-to-reel tape machines and vintage effects. Continued offers to perform live around the world have allowed the band to discover a new creative focus outside of working to film and 2024 has seen them sign to Fire Records to release their much anticipated debut album.
Memorial Waterslides’ is the debut album from MEMORIALS, the duo consisting of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms (previously of Electrelane and Wire). This is an otherworldly, surrealist pop record that is both timeless and timely, displaying a rare mix of classic songwriting and avant-garde attitudes.
MEMORIALS create panoramic pop that draws on both the familiar and the strange, while also treading new ground. With their playful and experimental style, combined with a love of good tunes, they sit comfortably alongside Broadcast, Portishead, Arthur Russell, The Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo and Tortoise.
The album is awash with imagery evoking a lost future, a veiled present and a daydreamed past, each song playing a role in creating a swirling, widescreen atmosphere, the listener taken along for the ride. Produced entirely by the two of them, the sound of the record was inspired by the reel-to-reel tape experiments they first played around with onstage as they began to develop their multi-layered recordings for live performances as a duo.
Following their acclaimed 2023 soundtracks ‘Women Against The Bomb’ and ‘Tramps!’, a European tour with Stereolab (they’ve been called “Stereolab’s evil twin”) and a new music commission from the Centre Pompidou in Paris, Verity and Matthew arrived at MEMORIALS in reverse, escaping their soundtracking day jobs to create cosmic journeys through the garden shed into psychedelic rock, far-out folk and wild analogue electronics.
“Everything you’d expect from a duo adept in the strange and esoteric, while also in thrall to pop music’s melodic bent.” The Quietus
Press Play and enjoy.
