A poignant yet uplifting ode to life’s peaks and troughs, the new single Gold-Lined Melancholy out today from Perth-based collective The Tortured Souls flourishes with lush arrangements and warmth, helmed by singer-songwriter Justin Davies’ rich vocals and storytelling. Also arriving today with an accompanying music video, Gold-Lined Melancholy is the third taste of the group’s forthcoming debut album Unforgettable Days, due for release on November 27.
Opening with ethereal piano, strings and shimmering organ, Gold-Lined Melancholy unfurls with vulnerability and catharsis, coating you with dynamic swells and warm melodies. Nodding to Lou Reed, Nina Simone, Nick Drake and David Bowie, Gold-Lined Melancholy’s ability to transport you into the world of The Tortured Souls and, ultimately, Justin Davies himself, is no accident, with the single organically coming to life in real-world spaces and moments of rumination, as Davies explains, “Gold-Lined Melancholy was written over three or four days in the front room of my home, late at night in front of a warm fire, sitting on the banks of a lake on the way down south, and then in the carpark, at sunset, in front of the main break in Margaret River. As with most of my songs, they start as a result of my thoughts taking me back to moments that now feel like they were shaping the future me. Memories of times that left the wounds for me to look at and reflect on for many years later, memories which can instantly transport me back to feeling the same feelings that are ever-overwhelming.”
“To try and reflect and capture these feelings in words and a melody is what I sought to find,” Davies adds, “and the film clip serves the song well as it moves atmospherically through moments in life that are magical and nostalgic and laden with a heavy heart.”
“And then, as a remedy to move past the hurt, I search within my past for times that lifted me and delivered me to a place that felt lined with something perfect – all within the spirit of something which is perfect and beautiful. Life can be an easy path for some people, smooth and settled and calm. And for others it seems filled with peaks and troughs that seem impossible to live and endure in the one life. Gold-Lined Melancholy reflects on the silver that shines around the outlines of a day (or every day) but at the same time seems draped in a sadness that feels like it’s reaching into something empty and unfulfilled. Beautiful moments that seem to be a reminder of what could have been in another time, or that actually was in another time, but isn’t any more. I would rather feel the sadness and the longing, from knowing the truth of love and beauty which had only visited so very briefly, than living a life without flying with angels before I fell.”
“In the end, with the distance of time, there is only gold and settled understanding the winding road is a life lived, and all which is pure and true, is the potency that prevails. Love – living it and missing it, wishing for it and promising it – is what shines through.”
Working once again with GRAMMY Award-nominated producer and engineer Rob Grant (Tame Impala, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Josh Homme) on their latest single, The Tortured Souls also conjured the accompanying visuals for Gold-Lined Melancholy with Dead As Disco (Jimmy Barnes, The Paper Kites, The Cat Empire), channelling the track’s essence seamlessly, as Davies elaborates, “The film clip was an important piece to the release – the vital other half. The song says what it says, but it was so important to try and capture life’s poignant moments with a video that had a depth and dreaminess within it. To capture life’s wondrous, nostalgic, lost and lonely moments in an engaging, timeless and theatrical light was so important. I feel like that was captured beautifully.”
Primed to release their debut album Unforgettable Days this November, The Tortured Souls deftly weave life’s highs, lows and everything in between into their signature style, blending pop, soulful rock and immersive storytelling into a timeless collection of songs, with nostalgic tones, dynamic stylistic shifts and memories seamlessly dovetailed together. Opening with wistful whimsy on the album’s title track, Unforgettable Days journeys from shimmering blues-hued heartbreak (Never One To Love) to stirring, sweeping rumination (Gold-Lined Melancholy), cinematic moments buoyed by acoustic guitars and a sprinkling of strings (Stay), swooning Bowie-esque melodies anchored by woozy organs (No Tomorrows) and swaying intimate odes (Had No Time). From here, Unforgettable Days traipses between lush country twangs (Walk With Me), pensive ballads that strike at your core (Say Goodbye), songs to soundtrack the sunset giving way to the shimmering night sky (Promises), and plaintive pleas woven with orchestral trimmings (Take Me Back), before ultimately closing out with uplifting glee via I Felt The Sun and a charming churning piano outro on Coda.
“The style and feel of songs are varied, as there are a few songs that have quite a lean into country story-telling ballads, and others that feel more like songs that were crafted in the late 60’s and early 70’s,” explains Davies. “If there was one theme that ran through all the songs, regardless of their style and influences, it would be that of nostalgia and longing and most of all love lived and lost.”
“We wanted the album to have a cinematic feeling,” Davies continues, “songs that felt like you could fall inside them and be lost within the layers of sound and be taken to a place where it was possible to feel the feelings that were present when the words were written. We hoped that every moment of each song offered something that would spark some imagery, thoughts or emotions – and tried to make the songs sound full and enveloping. There was a whole lot of love and effort put into every layer of every song to leave it sounding as consuming and evoking as possible.”
Formed by Perth singer-songwriter Justin Davies, The Tortured Souls brings together a dazzling array of Perth-based musicians for this forthcoming debut release, including drummer Malcolm Clark and bassist Jay Cortez (both formerly of The Sleepy Jackson), as well as members of the internationally acclaimed West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Having spent decades as a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist in his home state, Justin Davies turned his gaze to creative pursuits, channelling grief after losing a loved one years earlier into music and personal expression. Transforming mutual friendships into artistic collaboration, Davies also teamed up and worked closely with GRAMMY Award-nominated creative Rob Grant for the album’s entirety, spending time at the iconic Poons Head Studio in Western Australia, which also unlocked some of the nostalgic charm percolating throughout the upcoming album.
“Rob and I instantly warmed to each other and our enthusiasm and love for music and the energy behind what was unfolding (quite effortlessly) is reflected in the music,” shares Davies. “The studio itself has its own magic and sense of nostalgia – it feels like a place where wonderful things can happen. It’s hard not to fall into this mindset and energy that exists in the studio – it’s filled with vintage equipment everywhere – surrounding you, against the walls, on the walls, in between the amps and guitars, everywhere. It’s hard not to feel full of something special and it pulls everyone together into this fantastic feeling of being locked into something special – with the music and with each other. You just seem to just love the music and who you are making it with, and where you are at that moment, is the best place you could possibly be.”
Resonating instantly via the album’s title track, Unforgettable Days, which amassed more than 400,000 streams on Spotify alone and previous single No Tomorrows (with 240,000 streams), The Tortured Souls continue to balance emotional authenticity with warmth and storytelling that recalls many of Australia’s greats in the process in the lead up to their debut album.
But ahead of the release of Unforgettable Days, fans can immerse themselves immediately in the resplendent beauty of Gold-Lined Melancholy.
“Releasing Gold-Lined Melancholy feels like the appropriate introduction for the release of the album,” Davies concludes. “It was one of the first couple of songs written and is very much a reflection of how my life has always felt and still feels. It is a song which feels close to my heart, and probably the closest reflection of how I move through most days. I’m full of gratitude for my life and all that I have, but it is a life that often feels hard to navigate through.”
Gold-Lined Melancholy is out today.
Unforgettable Days is due out November 27
