The Memory Band (Hungry Hill)
There can be few less inviting hybrids than avant-folk, a fusion that suggests both self-indulgence and drabness. Laudably, the Memory Band are innocent on both counts, despite the fact that their eponymous debut album exists in an otherworldly, rustic hinterland where the Band and Talk Talk are equally revered.
The product of a six-piece supergroup of sorts whose members include the haunting “folk” vocalist Adem, the more Radio 2-friendly Polly Paulusma and Sam Jeffers, of the instrumental outfit Fridge, The Memory Band is intimate and gloriously ramshackle, with harmoniums and harps lending it an august air.
Though at times it feels as if you’ve gatecrashed a languid jamming session populated by three groups, the album’s highs, notably Theme For the