We’ve covered a number of singles from the collaboration between Jordan Whitlock and Matt Bauer‘s Memory Spells in recent times, with tracks like ‘Take My Hand‘ and ‘Heaven and Here‘ highlighting the pair’s decidedly cinematic brand of indie folk. “Combining ambient and classical elements with Whitlock’s piercingly poignant vocals,” we wrote of the latter track, “it has all the drama and aching emotion of a tragedy. Sombre strings ache and sway over glitchy atmospherics and the muted thump of percussion as Whitlock delivers lyrics that possess a spare and opaque poetry.” Sometimes this style is also applied to older song’s of Bauer’s too, with songs like ‘False Lights (Reprise)‘ reimagining the original with newfound drama and depth.
Now the pair are set to release This Is What It Feels Like, the collaboration’s debut full-length album, to showcase the sound they have built together. Remarkably, Bauer and Whitlock only met in person when the record was already half completed, though far from hampering the intimacy and emotional connection of the music, this distance ultimately helped deepen it. “This project began as an exchange of demos and became a deeply personal dialogue,” Whitlock explains, the remove of the pair dialling into the themes of isolation, bonding and longing which marks so many of the tracks.
Latest single ‘Do You Think Of It Sometimes?’ serves as the ideal introduction to the project for anyone still unfamiliar. If the album sees Memory Spells and Jordan Whitlock evoke the various fragilities of any relationship, then this single brings to life the chronic ache suffered by any yearning heart. Part memory, part dream, the song captures the transience of any given moment, and the nostalgia which builds around love even within the present. As though even the most beautiful of moments carry their own melancholic barb, the knowledge that time will pass haunting every day of our lives.
