“Honest” by Memorial

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.

Their direct and cathartic approach to songwriting has earned them admirers from across the musical world, including Elton John. It’s also an approach conducive to consistent evolution, as the two friends acquire and share their experiences and then find a way to make great music from them.

One such example is their new single, “Honest”, taken from their self-titled debut album due out at the end of April. The tune contrasts the natural peacefulness of Memorial’s music with a harder, sadder edge as the lyrics tackle the struggle of depression and the loneliness it can bring. It’s complimented by a moving music video which casts the two band members as distracting fixtures in the background of a greater internal struggle that eventually comes to an uplifting place of cathartic release.

On the video, they say, “We had an incredible time filming this video. We had the wonderful privilege of using a boathouse and surrounding grounds in The Lingholm Estate with massive thanks to Joe and Jenny (the owners) for letting us stay the night! The video centres around the main character (Jeremy Zinunu) who has a comfortable life, but suffers from feeling numb and lost, we act as light relief, but eventually he needs to find the strength in himself to not need us as a distraction. Jeremy and our amazing director Gregg Houston both braved the freezing cold lake for some of those beautiful shots , we can’t be thankful enough for that and everything else they and the team managed to achieve. It was essentially a holiday for us, boating on the lake, curry outside with a nice fire and staying in a beautiful holiday home.”