Forgotten Garden make their music across a couple of countries. Vocalist Inês Rebelo lives in her native Portugal, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Danny Elliott lives in northern Scotland, and since 2019 the two have been building a catalogue of sad, haunting indie songs from that distance. Their new single, “Civilisation,” is out on October 16th, and it takes on a much larger subject than most songs dare to.
The track looks at where humanity is heading, with the erosion of democracy, war, the climate crisis, corruption, and political dishonesty all named in the band’s own description. What comes out of that is a song that mourns more than it accuses, and it reads as an honest expression of frustration and grief at a decline that feels hard to stop. It is a heavy subject, but the song carries it with a delicate, soulful touch in the production, the performance, and the arrangement. The humanity in all three is easy to hear, and the band states plainly that no AI was used anywhere in making it.
The playing backs that up. The press materials single out a bass line from honorary gardener Melisa, along with melodic rhythm guitar and dark synth textures from Danny. Inês’s vocal is gentle and melancholic in the verses, then grows more powerful in the choruses, which gives the song a clear shape as it moves from quiet unease toward something more forceful. The post-punk touchstones are the ones the band cites: The Cure, Joy Division, and The Smiths, while Inês’s vocal leanings include Florence Welch, Lana Del Rey, and Chelsea Wolfe. The band has been described as Lana Del Rey meets The Cure, and that gives you a fair idea of where to place it. The song pulls no punches, and the feeling behind it is real. When “Civilisation” arrives on October 16th, you’ll understand what I mean when I say it is worth setting aside a few quiet minutes for.
