The Tortured Souls – Unforgettable Days
Justin Davies and The Tortured Souls
Released Debut Album
Unforgetable Days
On November 27
Acclaimed Perth, AU-Based Singer-songwriter
Unveils New Facets of Musical Artistry and Lyrical Depth
With Spellbinding Single “Gold-Lined Melancholy”
That Explore Life, Love, and Loss
The Tortured Souls, the Perth, Australia-based musical collective led by singer-songwriter Justin Davies, released their much-anticipated debut album. Unforgettable Days on November 27. Heralding the full-length album, three singles have already been released – the title track, “No Tomorrows,” and “Gold-Lined Melancholy” — and gained nearly a million streams worldwide.
Produced, mixed, and mastered by multiple award-winning, 2x GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer/engineer Rob Grant (Tame Impala, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Josh Homme) and featuring a stellar lineup of Perth-based musicians including drummer Malcolm Clark and bassist Jay Cortez (both formerly of Aussie alt-rock heroes The Sleepy Jackson) as well as members of the internationally acclaimed West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Unforgettable Days sees Justin Davies and The Tortured Souls exploring how the roads we travel and bridges we cross alter us in countless, unforeseen ways. Each track deftly weaves sweeping pop, soulful rock, and immersive storytelling into a timeless collection rich with nostalgic undertones, dynamic stylistic shifts, and spellbinding lyrical depth.
“Gold-Lined Melancholy,” follows such singles as the impassioned, Hammond-driven “No Tomorrows” and the international breakthrough debut, “Unforgettable Days,” both joined by official music videos directed, edited and produced by Dara Munnis and Patrick Pierce of Dead as Disco streaming now at YouTube.
“Unforgettable Days” proved a breathtaking first glimpse into Davies’ signature songcraft. A rising wave of critical applause from the likes of Rolling Stone Australia, which named the track among the “Best Australian Music of the Week,” hailing it as “a sweeping, piano-led introduction that leans into longing, memory, and the strange way certain moments in life refuse to fade.
The song turns over fragments of love and loss until they start to glow again. There’s a cinematic quality to ‘Unforgettable Days’ that immediately sets the tone. Soaring piano lines meet soaring strings and measured percussion, giving the track a sense of lift that mirrors its emotional core.” A stripped-back live performance of “Unforgettable Days” from the historic Poons Head Studio accompanied by members of Perth’s Aquila string quartet can also be viewed at The Tortured Souls’ official YouTube channel.
Though Justin Davies did not set out to become a singer and songwriter, the lasting effects of a tragic personal loss and some serendipitous cosmic intervention placed him on a hitherto unforeseen path towards extraordinary artistic creation. The youngest member of a musical family that includes ARIA Award-winning musician/composer Ashley Davies and acclaimed singer-songwriter Tanya-Lee Davies, he had spent much of his adult life as a successful entrepreneur and businessman in his native Western Australia.
Outside of his professional work, Davies also found time to devote himself to a wide range of philanthropic activities, instigated numerous fundraising events supporting local charities and a variety of national and international nonprofit organizations. But sadly, the untimely passing of a loved one to a fatal overdose more than two decades ago continued to haunt him, coloring his busy life with a bruising heartache and crushing disillusionment he simply couldn’t shake.
While visiting a local music shop in 2023, Davies found himself overpoweringly drawn to “the most beautiful guitar I had ever seen, resting there like it was waiting for me.” Despite little more than a rudimentary ability to play the instrument, he put down a deposit and took the guitar home with the idea of writing a song that would perhaps release some of irrevocable sadness and still-burning love he felt inside.
Davies’s fingers intuitively found their place on the fretboard, taking him to the sounds he needed, admittedly without his actually knowing what chords he was playing. Lyrics came just as naturally, emerging from a place of truth and reflection as well as how he hoped others may have felt living through similar longing and regret. Music became his sanctuary, with songs flowing effortlessly until he found himself with more than enough material to consider making an album.
Davies reached out to renowned producer/engineer Rob Grant, thinking the vintage analog equipment at his Poons Head Studio on the West Coast of Australia – including the Pultec EQP-1A3 tube program equalizer from the famed Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and a rare Fairchild 666 Tube Compressor from London’s De Lane Lea Studios that was in service during iconic recordings by The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and others – would yield a sonic authenticity ideally suited to his classic pop songcraft.
Taken with Davies’ intimate, evocative songs, Grant helped enlist a gifted assortment of local musicians who he believed would more than do justice to the purity of the material. The arrangements soon took shape from Davies’ original guitar-and-vocal compositions, with all involved falling into a place of genuine friendship and commitment to the project.
Nothing was forced or expected, everything simply flowed from the essence or groove of where or how each song should be in its final form. Together, Davies and his collaborators – which he dubbed The Tortured Souls – forged a timeless yet idiosyncratic collection rich with organic spontaneity and emotional depth, with songs like the blues-hued “Never One To Love” and the pensive ballad “Say Goodbye” each unfolding with collective harmony and ingenious spirit.
Just one year after his surprising musical journey truly began, Davies is now poised to shared his soulful creation with the world beyond. With Unforgettable Days, The Tortured Souls weave vulnerable melancholia and wistful resilience into a bittersweet, empathetic baroque pop all their own.
“It’s time and meant to be,” says Davies. ”It gives some sort of purpose and meaning to years of starting the days below zero. Without the sadness and searching, I wouldn’t have found my peace within the songs and the songs wound never have made their way to the surface. The feelings which had a hold of me would’ve held their grip – and the words and music would never have arrived.”
Unforgettable Days Track Listing:
1. Unforgetable Days
2. Never One To Love
3. Gold-Lined Melancholy
4. Stay
5. No Tomorrows
6. Had No Time
7. Walk With Me
8. Say Goodbye
9. Promises
10. Take Me Back
11. I Felt The Sun
12. Coda
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