In Memoriam – Forgotten Garden (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

It is easy to see some of the inspirations and reference points that Forgotten Garden uses as touchstones for the music—all manner of post-punk and alternative bands from an earlier golden age (or should that be dark age) such as The Cure, Siouxsie, and the Banshees, the ornate sonic winds that Warpaint elegantly wraps around themselves, and even more pop-orientated contemporary artists such as Lana Del Rey all play a part. But merely looking at soundalikes would mean missing the point entirely.

In Memoriam, is about moving forward rather than looking too much to the past, about writing the next musical chapter rather than adhering to the musical words of those already written. And so, this scintillating four-track EP is a fascinating prospect, built on familiarity to some degree but revelling in sonic adventure, leading rather than following.

If Memoriam kicks things off in a swirl of understated rock grooves and beguiling gothic moods, Road To Silence, which follows, sits in a more broadly accessible style, a dark design of folk traditions and fantastic boy/girl vocal play-offs. The Wind That Brings The Snow is an even more understated folk piece, blending the haunting sound of the bagpipes and the floating sonic intimacy of the violin as gorgeous vocals ebb and flow across the top.

Christmas Time is a track built as much from space as it is from actual music. It is spacious and spellbinding, with pauses for breath and gaps between the fading notes providing the perfect place for additional sounds to pool and percolate, creating a textured and detailed sound that is more than the sum of its parts.

The perfect link between folk music and the gothic scene, between the scintilating and the seductive, between the ornate and the understated, the poised and the poignant, the past and the present, In Memoriam is a fantastic collection of songs, and Forgotten Garden is a band that I shall be keeping a close eye on from now on—a very close eye indeed.