Fast-rising folk-pop duo Memorial release their self-titled debut album through Real Kind Records, alongside the new single 'Old Oaks'
LISTEN TO THE ALBUM HERE
TICKETS FOR UK LIVE DATES ON SALE NOW
PRAISE FOR MEMORIAL:
“A brass-flecked heartbreaker that recalls Simon & Garfunkel and Sufjan Stevens”
SUNDAY TIMES CULTURE
“Each segment interlocks perfectly, enacting a moment of peace that feels much-needed at this point.” CLASH
"Friendship is at the heart of the musical endeavour that is Memorial. Comprised of best friends Ollie Spalding and Jack Watts, their music emerges from the natural connection and openness that comes from really knowing and being comfortable with someone. Listening to a Memorial song is like being allowed to observe a friendship from within, being included in all the revelations that it brings.” NOTION
“Real aural therapy… wonderful” SIAN ELERI, BBC RADIO 1
“Fontaines DC like you’ve never heard them before, courtesy of a band called Memorial on this cover version… so Memorial, a two piece, made up of Jack and Ollie… we’ve played their stuff on PDP before but not this… come on that was PDP gold!” ANNIE MAC, BBC RADIO 1
“This is very beautiful…Kings of Convenience meets Simon and Garfunkel at their harmonious best.. Very beautiful… lush and gorgeous harmonies there” – CHRIS HAWKINS, BBC 6MUSIC
“This is called Latchkey and I really love it... Lovely to hear that kind of harmony coming back, I’ve always been a fan of that, it takes me back to the late 60s early 70s.” – ELTON JOHN, BEATS
“This really struck a chord with me… that sounds absolutely fantastic” – JOHN KENNEDY, RADIO X
Following the enormous support for their previously shared offerings ‘Dialtone’, ‘Moth to a Flame’, ‘Fake Moon’, ‘Honest’, and ‘Latchkey’, which was recently nominated for Song of the Year at the AMA UK Awards, fast-rising folk-pop duo Memorial have now released their eagerly-awaited self-titled debut album through Lucy Rose’s Real Kind Records (Bess Atwell, Samantha Crain), alongside the breathtaking new single ‘Old Oaks’.
Their eponymous full-length LP aims to deliver a wider and more dynamic approach to their flourishing folk-pop aesthetic with the new collection delving deeper into the pair’s personal connection and experiences, creating a more intimate and honest array throughout.
Speaking about the new album, they said, “This album is the amalgamation of a few turbulent years in our lives, experienced in each other’s company. The majority of songs were written in the living room of a one bed, shared by 3 people in a period of time where no one was allowed to go outside. Over the years and more so since writing together, we’ve managed to create a space for each other where we could listen, without judgment and talk with full honesty. The general mantra for this album was “the hardest thing to say is probably the most important”. We endured a fair share of sadness, of which is evident in the songs. Trying to navigate heartbreak, loneliness and family issues in a time that offered minimal distraction, meant that we got pretty insular and tried to make something positive out of it. The backbone and bind of the whole album however is friendship and how much more hope there is when you can look beyond yourself because someone is there for you, things will get better and things will hurt less. It was a cathartic slog and we made something we will be forever wholeheartedly and insanely proud of. It’s out there, these songs are now yours and we hope you find as much comfort and enjoyment in them as we have.”
Showcased by the new effort ‘Old Oaks’, this new offering highlights the subtle beauty that the duo have injected into every one of their cuts over the last few months. Letting the warm and captivating spirit swell throughout, it perfectly marks the inviting aesthetic for this new full-length as they bare their soul once again.
Adding about ‘Old Oaks’, "This song is about waiting for and relying on an important figure in your life to change, in order to allow yourself to move on. Being sceptical and reserved with your feelings on whether it’s even possible for them to change. My (Jack) parents split up a year or so before we wrote this, I was past all the anger and confusion and just wanted to move on and be better. Ollie had been through the same thing when he was younger, so we spoke about all the ways it affected us and how we viewed things differently since. The fragility and strength of our parents and evaluating who we are against who we thought we were. All you want is to be better, good and normal, but sometimes people affect you more than you anticipated."
Peel back the delicate layers of Memorial’s self-titled debut album and it reveals a record of remarkable vulnerability and honesty. Through songs such as Moth To A Flame’s elegiac sigh or Latchkey’s spell-like interplay of voices and acoustic guitars, it’s an album that speaks of love, longing and loneliness with a whispered intimacy. Like only the very best and most affecting music can, it talks to you like your closest and dearest friend.
Ollie Spalding and Jack Watts had been best friends for years before they ever played music seriously together. They’d both been in various other outfits but until one Halloween when all their friends were partying, they thought to book a rehearsal room and give it a go. The magic between the two was instant.
“It was like a cathartic release for us,” remembers Watts. “We booked a rehearsal room just for a laugh. We thought, ‘Let's just see how it goes…’ It was so much more fun than anything else we'd done. We were both thinking, ‘How the hell have we not done this before?!?’ It just felt like: Wow, this is truly ourselves.”
Like most good mates, the pair had long shared similar tastes and reference points when it came to music. More importantly, that long held friendship and the trust that came with it meant that they could be completely open and honest with one another when it came to writing songs together.
“We have this ability to be completely open with each other,” says Spalding. We never take offence to anything the other has said. We talk about things with each other that are really private because we’re really good friends. Which means that now we can write about them. It’s like therapy in a way.”
“We’re not just good acquaintances, we hang out together all the time so a lot of the experiences we go through, we go through together” adds Watts. “If someone is in turmoil or going through something that was really tough at the time, because we’re writing together, you’ve got two views on it. One person can be in it and having all these emotions and the other person can be seeing it from the outside and can have a bit more clarity or a difference of opinion. When you mix those together it makes a really interesting viewpoint.”
Though the impetus of many of these songs was one of pain, of love lost and of struggling to find yourself in the world, thanks to the unique emotional and music lexicon the pair have forged together, really, at the end of the day, Memorial’s debut is an album about friendship and the hope it brings.
‘Memorial’ Tracklist:
Moth To A Flame
Honest
Dialtone
Fake Moon
Latchkey
Amy
Midpoint
Broken Record
Memorial
Old Oaks
Love Is A Kind Of Sadness
Half Light
Memorial will be hitting the road in May and June in support of the release including dates at the below. Tickets are on sale NOW.
MAY
7th May – Reading – Are You Listening? Festival
12th May – London – Union Chapel (supporting Amber Run)
25th May – Birmingham – Kitchen Garden Cafe
28th May – Bristol – Dot To Dot Festival
29th May – Nottingham - Dot To Dot Festival
30th May – Manchester – The Castle Hotel
31st May – Edinburgh – Sneaky Pete’s
JUNE
1st June – Newcastle – Little Buildings
2nd June – Leeds – Hyde Park Book Club
9th June – London – The House of St Barnabas
11th June – Brighton – The Folklore Rooms
DISCOVER MEMORIAL