Remember Remember

Born out of the solo experimentation of Graeme Ronald, Remember Remember have grown into a fully fledged six piece band over the course of two highly regarded albums; 2008’s self titled debut and 2011’s ‘The Quickening’. Their third long player ‘Forgetting the Present’ was recorded over two weeks at Mogwai’s Castle of Doom Studios with Tony Doogan and finds the band confidently moving things forward.

The record begins with the complex lolling and looping patterns of ‘Blabbermouth’ before ‘La Mayo’ takes up the baton on Andy Brown’s propulsive, vaguely disco beat. Atmospheric layers include a saxophone that evokes Glasgow’s rain soaked streets.

‘Magnets’ follows with an insistent, accented bass. The tension crescendos with organ and percussion then collapses in on itself leaving just piano and glockenspiel before a final flourish. It’s startlingly beautiful.

On ‘The Old Way’, guitar, piano and glockenspiel arpeggios loop over and over, ‘Pterodactyl’ is jazz tinged and ‘Why You Got A Blue Face’ sees the record grow heavier. ‘Purple Phase’ is built on a bright ukulele riff as other instruments swirl in and out of focus like insects on a summer’s day before everything ends as it began on ‘Frozen Frenzy’ with complex layers of loops unhurriedly building up over the course of its ten minutes.

While the album is entirely instrumental, it never becomes boring in the absence of a vocal focal point. The music is brilliantly arranged and performed. It twists and turns. It evokes half remembered sights, sounds and feelings. It takes you on a journey. It has a beginning, middle and end. It is everything you could want and nothing you will expect. It is perfect.