Two years ago, Electrelane frontwoman Verity Susman and Wire guitarist Matthew Simms were commissioned to create two separate film soundtracks: one for Tramps!, portraying the queer origins of the New Romantic scene, and another for Women Against the Bomb, a documentary about the all-female Greenham Common peace camp. After Susman and Simms were booked to play a gig together, they formalised their collaborations as Memorials, and have just released both excellent soundtracks alongside standalone single There Are Other Worlds.
Both films explore the liminal period when the 80s began to burst from the chrysalis of the 70s, and the exciting, unpredictable music of Memorials reflects the wild creativity and ambition of the time. Technology was democratising music production, and what had once been wild ideas – gender fluidity, postmodernism, feminism – continued their long swim into the mainstream.
