"mEMOries" Part 23 feat. About Leaving

8 years ago, back on the old site, we did start a series called mEMOries. It was all about asking new Emo-bands or other scene affiliates about their all time favourite (Midwest-)Emo-record. It was about nostalgia. And it was about connecting the new with the old. I had big plans for this series, wanted to collect 20 parts and then release some sort of a sampler with an XL-booklet attached, that features all of the text pieces...

...after 7 parts the series was buried, when the end of borderline fuckup 1.0 was on the horizon. I'm still in love with the idea and tried my best to start a relaunch in 2021, but it mainly was a chore. However, I got back on track somehow, with a lot of support by some lovely people. Now, here's part 23 for your reading pleasure!

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// The band // About Leaving

ABOUT LEAVING hail from Barcelona, Catalunya and formed in 2014. Since then they released two LPs, 2016's "An Echo" and 2021's "Sculptures of Water". With their blend of longing melodies, powerful outbursts and addictibe power chords, they seem to bring everything together that was cool about 90's Indie-/Midwest-Emo. For Part 23 of "mEMOries" Jaime (guitar/vox) picked a classic that could easily be seen as a source of inspiration to their own sound...

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// The record // Elliott - False Cathedrals

Release: 2000 // Label: Revelation Records

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Jaime on "False Cathedrals" by Elliott

I vividly remember the first time I listened to something we would refer to as emo.

It was during a late night, or rather an early morning, at my now friend Luis Cifre's -singer of the esteemed band Her Only Presence- house. I didn't really know him that much at the time, but a few mutual friends and I ended up there after a night out.

We were drinking, chatting and chilling, and we started talking about music. At the time, I was, kind of "separately", a fan of indie folk, alternative rock and punk, and had just started messing around with a guitar trying to come up with some songs, but they lacked any deep intentionality or direction. Some of them were lackluster Conor Oberst carbon copies, some of them tried, and mostly failed, to mimic Built to Spill’s subtle sense of melody and others were just a cathartic expression of young angst trying to emulate Lagwagon’s energy. None of it really worked, to be honest, and they formed a mostly incoherent mess.

But then, that early morning, Luis played some songs as we were talking. Songs I had never listened to by bands I didn't know. And it all changed. I think at that moment I discovered Penfold, Mineral, American Football, Texas is the reason, The Promise ring... all at the same time. I was ecstatic to learn about a whole new genre able to encapsulate everything I loved about different kinds of music. It felt like something just clicked.

And then those first few piano notes of False Cathedrals, by Elliott, started filling the room. The seamless transition between Voices and Calm Americans and the hauntingly beautiful voice of Chris Higdon instantly stood out to me. Elliott seemed both delicate and rough, both subtle and irrefutable. Fragile and monolithic at once, like a false cathedral built from ethereal sound rather than stone. I had never listened to anything quite so perfectly nuance. The songs seemed to effortlessly fluctuate between different genres, energies and purposes, and it all sounded perfect.

It showed me new ways to communicate and interact with music and lyrics, and it instantly felt like an "intimate love affair with common man themes" that sow the seeds for About leaving and every other creative endeavor in my life.

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"mEMOries" Part 1 feat. Mosey Jones
"mEMOries" Part 2 feat. Daniel Becker (Time as a Color Records, Amid the Old Wounds)
"mEMOries" Part 3 feat. Former States 
"mEMOries" Part 4 feat. Edie Quinn (Middle-Man Records, Coma Regalia)
"mEMOries" Part 5 feat. Human Hands 
"mEMOries" Part 6 feat. Alex Miles (Is this Thing on?)
"mEMOries" Part 7 feat. Boys' Club
"mEMOries" Part 8 feat. Keith Latinen (Mt. Oriander, Parting) 
"mEMOries" Part 9 feat. Villain of the War 
"mEMOries" Part 10 feat. John Szuch (Deep Elm Records)
"mEMOries" Part 11 feat. Flight Mode 
"mEMOries" Part 12 feat. Comic Sans
"mEMOries" Part 13 feat. Joe C (What Price Wonderland?, Plaids, Zochor)
"mEMOries" Part 14 feat. Mentah 
"mEMOries" Part 15 feat. Walking Race
"mEMOries" Part 16 feat. Against Realism
"mEMOries" Part 17 feat. Klaus Axmann (Goddamn Records) 
"mEMOries" Part 18 feat. Atlanta Arrival 
"mEMOries" Part 19 feat. Mary's Letter
"mEMOries" Part 20 feat. Sinking 
"mEMOries" Part 21 feat. Lakes
"mEMOries" Part 22 feat. Downhaul