A Chat with Memory Spells (18.02.26)
We chat with Memory Spells on how This Is What It Feels Like emerged organically from an already deep creative partnership, shaped by instinct, trust, and shared sensibilities. They discuss the freedom of remote collaboration, the emotional distance and connection woven into the songs, and the process of building a cohesive sound by letting go of control. At its core, the album (set for release in April) stands as a testament to creative play, vulnerability, and the power of following intuition wherever it leads.
OSR: How did the idea for This Is What It Feels Like first come about?
Matt: I guess it kind of came in the middle because we had already written a bunch of songs.
Jordan: I wonder if we were both individually coming to the same conclusion. I know I had been thinking for a while about using all our songs to make an album together, and I remember bringing it up to you at some point.
Matt: And I’d been thinking the same thing. The songs we had written up to that point already had a cohesive sound and recurring themes, so it seemed natural to continue that and make an album.
OSR: What was it like collaborating remotely for this album?
Matt: Surprisingly easy.
Jordan: I don’t want to speak for you, but I think we both feel really comfortable recording and writing in our own spaces and taking our own time with lyrics and everything, so it kind of worked out perfectly. From the first song we wrote together [‘All I See Is You’], it happened so quickly and seamlessly, I immediately knew that this was a great collaboration and that I wanted to keep making things together.
Matt: I feel the same way. With that first song, ‘All I See Is You’, I had a piece of music that I’d try to write words and melody to on and off for a few years and sort of held on to it because it felt really special to me and when I heard Jordan’s singing and her lyrics, that’s when I reached to see if she’d want to write together and it just came together so quickly from there that I felt the same. I think I knew that this was gonna be a really great writing partnership.
OSR: Did working from separate cities affect the creative process or the emotional tone of the songs?
Jordan: I guess maybe slightly because we weren’t in the same room, being able to talk about what our specific inspiration for a song was. Matt might have sent me an instrumental or a lyric idea, and I would have my own separate lyric idea and without saying, “okay, this is this specific thing we’re going to write about”, we’d both be individually drawing from our own experiences and feelings. Not being in the same room and having more of a back-and-forth nature of writing allowed us a lot of personal agency in the songs. If I had a strong idea and it all spilled out, we’d go with that. If I was stuck, I’d send a melody idea to Matt and he’d have all these new ideas from what I sent him.
Matt: Yeah, I loved that back and forth. I’d write something that Jordan would write a melody to, then I’d have an idea to write a string part off of her melody. Or one of us would send the other the beginning of the lyrics to a song that would spark an idea for the other, and it would just keep going. I also think there’s a lot in the lyrics about connection and distance, and we kind of went through that as we wrote these really personal songs together, but in our own time and from our own cities.
OSR: How did you approach blending your individual styles into a cohesive sound?
Jordan: I think to some extent you have to give up a bit of control. We’re both producers and songwriters, so there’s an element of needing to give up 100% of what your sound might be in order to make a new sound together. After writing a few songs, you start to hear what that sound might be. I think, lyrically, we like to live in a similar place, often referencing nature, which is important to both of us. And sonically, we really let ourselves be free of any expectations. If we wanted a long vocal section with strings, we let ourselves do that. We didn’t feel the need to follow a normal song structure and really just had fun making music that we loved for this album.
OSR: Can you describe the moment you realised a track was finished and felt right?
Jordan: Well, with ‘All I See Is You’, it was pretty instant. Once the vocal was done, we kind of just knew it was ready. I remember feeling surprised it happened so fast and was so easy, but it really just was.
Matt: Yeah, you sent me back full lyrics and a vocal arrangement within like 24 hours, and I loved it instantly. I think we got on FaceTime and talked about maybe changing one word or something? But it really just came together quickly and felt perfect to me.
OSR: Which song on the album felt the most challenging to create, and why?
Matt: For me, maybe ‘Bloom’. Not in a bad way, but just because it took a while to get the idea of what I wanted for the string accompaniment out of my head and onto the page in a way that our string players could understand.
Jordan: It was a pretty stream-of-conscious song for me, so that completely makes sense. I wanted to keep it without the click in order to preserve how it felt on that first voice recording. ‘Bloom’ was a song for me that was pretty much bare bones, and I had no idea where to take it, but loved it, so I really left a lot in Matt’s hands there.
OSR: How did you maintain communication and creative chemistry without being in the same studio?
Jordan: Matt is really good about checking in and scheduling Zooms. So every time we had a new idea, we’d hop on a call, touch base and share creative ideas and whatnot. As we got further into the album process, our ‘meetings’ got more frequent and changed a bit from writing songs to dreaming up artwork ideas and making music videos, and now it feels like there’s always something creative we can be talking about. Also, I think we are similar people, so it always just felt safe and easy and fun.
Matt: To me, too, it just felt natural. Like, I didn’t feel like we had to work to maintain communication because it was just really fun to write together, so we were in touch all the time.
OSR: Were there any happy accidents or unexpected outcomes during production?
Matt: The thing that jumps to mind for me would be ‘Roses’ and ‘There’s Still Tomorrow’. I feel like that started as just a drone that I sent to Jordan, that turned into a vocal improv that we passed back and forth and eventually split into two songs. It’s the kind of thing that I don’t think either of us would have written on our own, and came out of just following our instincts, listening to each other, and being open to wherever our ideas would take us.
OSR: How did the collaboration influence your personal approach to songwriting?
Jordan: Matt’s an amazing lyricist, so I often reference the lyrics he’s written – their poetic nature.
Matt: I love your lyrics, too. And I think we have similar sensibilities, but come to things from different perspectives that complement each other, or give each other ideas we wouldn’t have arrived at on our own.
Jordan: In this album, the way we really let go and let ourselves make what felt good to us has given me a little push to do the same with my solo projects. It’s about art and about music, and there really shouldn’t be anything else in the way.
OSR: What do you hope listeners feel or take away from the album?
Matt: I don’t know that there’s anything specific I’d want people to take away from it. We really just wrote it for ourselves and to have a space where we could do whatever we wanted and write about whatever we were feeling. Some of my favourite records and songs are really personal and specific in a way that somehow connects with people because the artist has been so true to themself. I hope that’s what we’ve done, and that people find some connection to it.
Jordan: Yeah, we made this album from a very free mindset, so maybe I would hope that other artists and musicians. Or just anyone feels inspired to create just to create as well.
Many thanks to Memory Spells and Jordan Whitlock for speaking with us. Find out more about Memory Spells on their Instagram, Spotify, and official website. Find out more about Jordan Whitlock on their Instagram and Spotify
