Memorials : All Clouds Bring Not Rain
British duo Memorials open their sophomore album All Clouds Bring Not Rain at the 10,000-foot level. Its leadoff track “Life Could Be A Cloud” is gorgeously weightless, maintaining a gravity-defying stillness via warmly melodic keyboard drones and Verity Susman’s tuneful but understated vocal performance: “Life could be a cloud, high above the trees/in spite of the fact of gravity.” But halfway through the song, that force of nature comes calling. The peaceful levitation comes to an end, and the ambient pop ballad crashes down to earth in a powerful rush of adrenaline, introducing a pulsing motorik, psych-rock drive that buzzes and whirs and thrums as it comes in for a landing. The transition is sudden but seamless, an expertly executed shattering of a tension that’s effective because you barely notice it’s there—until the impact arrives.
Susman, the former vocalist of Electrelane, and musical partner Matthew Sims, of Wire, each have a couple decades under their belts at honing their chops at both driving post-punk and sonic head trips, including having recently recorded the score to French Kate Bush documentary, L’Odysée Musicale de Kate Bush. They catalyze that learned versatility into a collection of driving, far-out wormhole dives on All Clouds Bring Not Rain, crafting superb headphone fodder with layers to untangle and unfold, even when firing at maximum intensity.
The whole of All Clouds Bring Not Rain comprises the spectrum between the gently soothing opening of “Life Could Be A Cloud” and the moment that it kicks into hyperdrive, though it tilts considerably toward the latter. “Dropped Down the Well” is one such moment, echoing Can and Silver Apples in a psychedelic drone-pop barnburner, its drums cracking the silence with a satisfyingly earth-shattering boom. “Bell Miner” opens with a skeletal arrangement of just drums and bass and vocals, an ecstatic slapper of a song even before its various other layers begin cascading in. And “Cut Glass Hammer” is the band at their most danceable, all flashing synth grooves and undeniable rhythms.
There are few tracks here that don’t maintain a thrilling progression, whether understated or charged with energy, but Susman and Sims arrive at their greatest moments when juxtaposing contrasting elements in a sensorially stimulating collage. “In the Weeds” is one of those, pulsing with Afrobeat funk against dense drones and scratchy guitar, climaxing in cavernous cathedral synth arpeggios. “Mediocre Demon” is another, wrapped in warped and wobbly effects, backward samples, and yes, more big drums, while layers of twinkling vibraphone resonate gorgeously against the chaotic backdrop. In a collage of sounds where each individual element is designed to be maximally mesmerizing, it speaks volumes that All Clouds Bring Not Rain is still greater than the sum of its parts.
Label: Fire
Year: 2026
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Memorials : All Clouds Bring Not Rain
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