motel void

MEMORIALS is Electrelane frontwoman Verity Susman and Wire guitarist Matthew Simms. Sounding like an unearthed lost classic, MEMORIALS twist their influences into their own unmistakable sound. Imagine Nico singing with Can produced by David Axelrod and you’re somewhere in the right ballpark… for a song or two at least! They draw inspiration from a wide range of music including folk, dub, post punk, experimental tape music, 60s soul, garage rock, 70s spiritual jazz and Canterbury prog.

MOTEL VOID: MEMORIALS bring together two distinctive musical backgrounds. How did this project first take shape?

VERITY (MEMORIALS): we started working together in the early 2020s writing film soundtracks and then got invited to perform one of them live…then we got offered some more gigs and decided to give ourselves a band name and start writing music that wasn’t just for soundtracks. It all sort of happened in reverse. We still write soundtracks together, but the band side of things has taken over a bit now. Matthew and I met each other about 20 years ago when our previous bands Electrelane and It Hugs Back were both on the label Too Pure. We were friends and collaborated on musical projects from time to time, but it took a while to get serious about making music together.

MOTEL VOID: You spent last summer touring the U.S. with Stereolab and have also toured with Tortoise. How did those experiences influence you, both musically and personally?

MATTHEW (MEMORIALS): Musically these are two bands I’ve loved since I was about 12 and starting to branch out into my own record collecting and both are bands that have stayed with me since… the Stereolab tour in America was great for us… they are so generous and supportive… it’s not always like that with support tours! Added to this, they are touring a great new record, so it was also just a bit of a joy to hear them play each night… it’s a clear highlight for me of our experiences since forming this band a few years ago.

MOTEL VOID: Before recording your new album, All Clouds Bring Not Rain, you worked on the soundtrack for a documentary about Kate Bush. How did immersing yourselves in her world and archive shape your thinking about arrangement, space, and storytelling on your own record?

VERITY (MEMORIALS): Our record was mostly written by the time we worked on the Kate bush doc, so it didn’t have a direct influence, but she is such an inspiring musician in any case because she has always done things on her own terms, following her artistic vision. I also love that she made what I think is one of her best records – Aerial – in middle age, well into her career.

One practical influence from the documentary was the introduction we got to the studio in France where we recorded much of our album. The brilliant documentary director, Sonia Gonzalez, got us to record the soundtrack at that studio – it’s in the middle of nowhere, in a wood in the southwest of France – and we loved it so much we decided to go back to record a lot of our own album there.

MOTEL VOID: You recorded parts of the album in several different studios, including 4AD’s studio in London. What was special about working there, and did the history of that space influence how you approached the recordings?

MATTHEW (MEMORIALS): 4AD have been great to us – their lovely little studio had one thing in particular we needed – a harpsichord! We spent the first few hours of our time there suddenly being thrown in the deep end with harpsichord renovations! But, we got what we needed… those 17hour sessions aren’t for everyone! 

MOTEL VOID: You’ve spoken about being drawn to older recording methods. How did that philosophy practically shape the sessions for this album?

MATTHEW (MEMORIALS): Choices create choices! From a recording point of view it’s more that applying limitations is good to help us focus on the song, the arrangement and committing to a sound as you go… it’s also that instinct to not sound like everyone else… it’s easier to achieve if you’re using different instruments to everyone else and recording them yourself in your own way!

MOTEL VOID: The lead single, Cut Glass Hammer, is really compelling. Could you tell us what sparked the idea for it and how it developed?

MATTHEW (MEMORIALS): Musically, it was a born from the interweaving bass lines and lyrically heavily influenced by a trip to the Yoko Ono retrospective at the Tate Modern, which sadly didn’t include the glass hammer used in the advertising poster!

MOTEL VOID: Finally, with tour plans underway for the spring, where will MEMORIALS be performing, and which stops are you most excited about?

MATTHEW (MEMORIALS): We have touring starting in France in April, then the UK, Canada & North America in May and Germany in June. We’re deep in the process of figuring out how on earth to play the record we’ve made live so right now it’s a mixture of daunting and exciting but a few particular notable stand outs for me… Pappy & Harriets in Pioneertown – I’ve always wanted to play here… getting back to France will be nice, I feel we’ve had some of our best gigs there with this band, and Berlin too… & by that point we’ll be playing pretty good, you’d hope!