As they prepare for the release of “Memorial Waterslides” and their upcoming UK tour, Memorials release new single “Book Stall” taken from their debut album set for release on October 04, 2024.
Built around a syncopated drum groove and some tape-machined saxophone, “Book Stall” “was one of the first written for the album and came together quickly. The words are inspired by collectors and their collections, what becomes of them, what meaning remains, the adventure of books and not knowing the answer!”
Produced entirely by the two in their own studio (garden shed!), the sound of “Memorial Waterslides” 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. The result is an otherworldly, surrealist pop record, displaying a rare mix of classic songwriting and avant-garde attitudes.
Watch the official visualizer for the new single “Book Stall” through the YouTube player below:
“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.
Stream and Pre-Order the album here: https://memorialsband.lnk.to/MeWaEM
TOUR DATES:
13 Oct: The Hug and Pint, Glasgow UK
14 Oct: Yes, Manchester, UK
16 Oct: The Jericho Tavern, Oxford, UK
17 Oct: The Lexington, London, UK
18 Oct: Louisiana, Bristol, UK
21 Oct: The Parish, Huddersfield, UK
22 Oct: Dead Wax, Birmingham, UK
23 Oct: Heartbreakers, Southampton, UK
24 Oct: Alphabet, Brighton, UK
14 Dec: The Trades Club, Hebden Bridge, UK, w/ Jane Weaver
Purchase tickets here: https://memorialsband.lnk.to/TourEM
Tracklist:
01. Acceptable Experience
02. Lamplighter
03. Cut It Like A Diamond
04. Name Me
05. Memorial Waterslide II
06. Book Stall
07. False Landing
08. Horse Head Pencil
09. I Have Been Alive
10. The Politics Of Whatever
