MEMORIALS jump off the waterslides and head above the clouds with their stunning second album, ‘All Clouds Bring Not Rain’, set for release on 27th March 2026 via Fire Records.
Recorded mostly in a studio in a barn secluded deep in the woods in southwestern France, the album is imbued with the sense of freedom that experience evokes. The duo of Verity Susman and Matthew Simms (formerly of Electrelane and WIRE) locked themselves away and re-emerged with a beautiful, unusual record that is both melodic and unconventional. For such an ambitious album it’s striking that it was written, performed, recorded and mixed solely by the two of them.
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! The record draws 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.
“Embodying the polarities of avant-garde and classic songwriting” Under The Radar
Having spent the first half of 2025 composing the soundtrack to an acclaimed documentary about Kate Bush which hit TV screens in the autumn, the band recorded All Clouds Bring Not Rain in the summer before setting off on tour with Stereolab across the USA.
They say, “we are increasingly drawn to the way records used to be made, both the sound of the equipment used and the choices forced by that equipment; there wasn’t the option to tinker for ages, it was about capturing a moment in time and committing to that. It’s far more satisfying to record sounds that exist in a real space and so become unique to us: they aren’t the same as the samples readily available everywhere…we are actively turning away from the easy option at almost every opportunity!”
This attention to detail in their sound meant finding several other studios to get what they needed to record with, including a harpsichord at 4AD’s studio in London and a vibraphone and vintage Leslie speaker in Stereolab drummer Andy Ramsay’s studio Press Play.
Verity’s distinctive, unadorned singing is a focal point of the record, moving from tender to wild. Her vocal melodies quickly become earworms, providing the tuneful heart around which the songs’ more unorthodox elements are arranged, which is where Matthew’s unconventional approach to recording and production comes to the fore. This can be heard, for example, on ‘Wildly Remote’, an alluring lullaby that arrives out of a sea of drones and then opens up in the middle into an unexpected saxophone-tape-loop solo before the final verse returns: from delicate to edgy, playful to intense.
Lead single ‘Cut Glass Hammer’ began as experiment in not changing chord, built around two constantly evolving modular synth lines, with lyrics inspired by a trip the band took to the Yoko Ono retrospective ‘Music of the Mind’ at London’s Tate Modern gallery. ‘In The Weeds’ blends dub and folk into an anarchic, eccentric but surprisingly catchy pop song. Whilst ‘Bell Miner’, a post-punk ballad of sorts, takes its name from the Bell Miner birds encountered by the duo in Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens whilst on tour in Australia – listen closely and you can hear their field recordings of the birds.
Elsewhere ‘Dropped Down The Well’ is a bleak banger that has become a live favourite since the band introduced it into their live shows last year. ‘Mediocre Demon’ takes shape around a dancingly groovy bass line with choral vocals, vibraphone and tape manipulations in the pocket: it is a soulful, retro-futurist song that treads new sonic waters for the band.
With their adventurous arrangements, classic songwriting skills and innovative production techniques, MEMORIALS have created another mesmerising listen that’s accomplished and compelling in its unique approach yet remains dizzyingly immersive – just like their acclaimed live shows.
MEMORIALS’ new album ‘All Clouds Bring Not Rain’ is available in three Citrus Vinyl editions: Orange Vinyl Edition, Lemon Vinyl Edition (Indie Store Exclusive), Lime Vinyl Bundle which includes 4 Hand-Stamped Art Prints in Signed Sealed Envelope + Sticker Sheet (Fire + Bandcamp Exclusive) & CD.
TOUR DATES
026 Tour Dates
27 Mar: Resident Records, Brighton, UK (stripped back set)
08 Apr: Le Hasard Ludique, Paris, France
09 Apr: Le Tangram (Le Kubb), Évreux, France
10 Apr: Variations Festival, Nantes, France
11 Apr: Calm, Limoges, France
12 Apr: La Petite Populaire, La Réole, France
14 Apr: Le Consortium, Dijon, France
15 Apr: Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing, France
22 Apr: The Croft, Bristol, UK
23 Apr: Little Bully, Oxford, UK
24 Apr: The Prince Albert, Brighton, UK
26 Apr: Heartbreakers, Southampton, UK
29 Apr: The Lexington, London, UK
30 Apr: Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, UK
01 May: Castle Hotel, Manchester, UK
02 May: NeoAncients Festival, St Laurence Church, Stroud, UK
07 May: Studio 919, Victoria, BC, Canada**
08 May: The Pearl, Vancouver, BC, Canada**
09 May: Tractor Tavern, Seattle, WA, US, w/ Holy Fuck
10 May: Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR, US**
12 May: Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA, US**
13 May: The Roxy, Los Angeles, CA, US**
14 May: Casbah, San Diego, CA, US**
15 May: Swan Dive, Las Vegas, NV, US,**
16 May: Pappy and Harriets, Pioneertown, CA, US**
17 May: Club Congress, Tucson, AZ, US**
19 May: 13th Floor, Austin, TX, US
20 May: The Pie Shop, Washington, D.C., US
21 May: Tubby’s, Kingston, NY, US
22 May: O’Brien’s, Allston, MA, US
23 May: New York, NY @ TBA, US
31 May: Nachtasyl, Hamburg, Germany
01 Jun: Kantine am Berghain, Berlin, Germany
02 Jun: Noch Besser Leben, Leipzig, Germany
03 Jun: Kohi, Karlsruhe, Germany
04 Jun: Club Manufaktur, Schorndorf, Germany
05 Jun: Bellevue Di Monaco, München, Germany
07 Jun: Rotown, Rotterdam, Netherlands
** w/ Holy Fuck
