ALBUM REVIEW – STEPHEN PASTEL & GAVIN THOMSON: THIS IS MEMORIAL DEVICE: Silent Radio

I was given a copy of David Keenan’s novel This is a commemorative device by a good friend of mine last December, and it’s been stuck in my head ever since. So when I saw the soundtrack to the stage adaptation composed by Stephen Pastel and Gavin Thomson – being a huge Pastels fan – I was immediately hooked.

The soundtrack, which clocks in at just over half an hour, features moments of indie rock, narrative and cinematic accompaniment. The opening track “Introduction to Why I Did It” focuses on pensive keys and breathy vocals before a typically Scottish voiceover begins. The airy sway of the track and the initial narrative make you feel as if you are floating towards the ground, a picture of what is to come slowly taking shape. As the instruments collide with each other in the sky, swaying and crashing, the track ends with the declaration “and now it’s already the rotten past, isn’t it? Dead and buried, gone forever, we all know that?”

“We Have Sex” is the most recognizable indie rock track on the album, though you still have to squint to see it as The Pastels. Hypnotic and danceable, the vocals are distorted and delayed, and the song is propelled by a driving bassline that thrives beneath the cacophony above. Like a melting pot of early ’80s alternative music, there are identifiable nuggets of punk, goth, post-punk, and indie rock floating in the stew. It’s the album’s biggest earworm and probably one of the few songs that can be added to a playlist once it’s all said and done.

“The Most Beautiful House in Airdrie” is tranquil with its gentle guitar strums and meandering woodwinds, and the return of the breathy vocals that opened the record. The programmed drums lay a solid foundation for the song to nestle into, while the other elements wrap around each other to weave a comforting blanket. It’s a song that could almost be added to a “lo-fi study/chill playlist,” mellow and wordless, it’s easy to get lost in.

“Square Peg in a Black Hole” opens with a narrative that establishes the foundation of the song: a friend showing him an experimental cassette tape during a car ride. The clicking of the inserted cassette gives way to the discordant hum of its contents. A ringing sound repeats, punctuated by a sonar sound. The drums drown out a dense mass of hum.

“I Started Painting Landscapes” is a brief foray into post-rock-adjacent progressions, that transcendent rock medium that adds a cinematic edge to the narrative that sits atop the set. “Chinese Moon” sees a reprise of the keys that first appeared on “Introduction to Why I Did It,” accompanied by those distorting, buzzing guitar drones. These keys and the atmosphere that accompanies them feel like a memory theme, like sitting in the brain and watching analog film memories on a projector, slightly warped and stale in storage.

“Footsteps in the Snow” has these bleeping electron fragments that reminded me a bit of Jon Brion’s score for Eternal sun of the spotless mind, like shards of memories mixing and blending. The post-rock influences present on “I Started Painting Landscapes” continue here, the song rising to a gentle peak. The brass and plink-plonk of various instruments remind me of a band like Sigur Ros.

Finally, “The Morning of the Executions” is another Sigur Ros-influenced track, with bold, anthemic brass, balanced by wind cymbals. It really feels like an “end credits” track, bringing all the disparate elements together and tying all the loose ends into a neat knot.

It is a commemorative deviceThe score is a truly fitting piece of accompanying music. I can’t think of a better musical outfit to accompany the source text, and as expected, they do it beautifully. It really makes me want to watch the adaptation, as I was emotionally touched just by listening to the score. A well-woven score drawing on indie, post-rock, post-punk, and ambient/drone that feels like a love letter not only Commemorative device, but the music and the musical scenes that inspired him.

Stephen Pastel & Gavin Thomson: This Is Memorial Device – Released June 28, 2024 (Domino)

Stephen” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen> Pastel and Gavin Thomson with Unexpensive Superstars with John McCorkindale – We Have Sex (youtube.com)