The group's delirious, structurally inventive Eurovision banger What the Hell Just Happened? channels their infectious energy into a relatable tale of chaos. Lauren sets the scene on the intro when she sings: "Someone lost a shoe, I'm still in last night's make up, I'm wakin' up like, 'What's this new tattoo?'" If you want to think it's semi-autobiographical, Remember Monday won't try to correct you. "We've definitely had nights out that have ended in tattoo parlours," Lauren says. "But we love that it combines our personal history with something quite relatable. When one of your girlfriends is going through something shit, you take them on a night out to distract them and make them feel good about themselves."
The trio wrote What the Hell Just Happened? specifically for this year's song contest. In December, less than a month after they'd completed their first sellout UK tour, they were formally asked to fly the flag in Basel. "After that we spent weeks writing and had about 15 songs in contention because we wanted to get it perfect," Holly says. Co-written with producers Billen Ted (Anne-Marie, Tom Grennan) plus seasoned Eurovision songwriters Thomas Stengaard and Julie 'Kill J' Aagaard, What the Hell Just Happened? stood out because it felt quintessentially British in a modern way.
"There's a bit of Queen-style glam rock in there, but we've combined it with really current influences like Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo," Lauren says. The result is a shapeshifting power-pop romp that really shows off the trio's gleaming vocal harmonies. "We were like, 'Let's not be afraid to play around and push boundaries,'" Charlotte says. "So when people say it's a bit like a female Bohemian Rhapsody, it's the biggest compliment." Though previous Remember Monday singles have more of a pronounced country-pop sound, the trio have paid homage to Queen before. "One of the most popular cover versions we've ever done is Fat Bottomed Girls," Charlotte notes.
What the Hell Just Happened? is also brimming with the wit and warmth that Remember Monday fans have come to expect. On last year's anthemic single Laugh About It, they wave goodbye to an ex by hoping his life is "haunted by the most inconvenient shit": gluten intolerance, a buffering Netflix connection, occasional erectile dysfunction. "People always ask us who that song is about but it's literally about no one in particular," Holly says with a laugh. "We just thought it would be funny to write a song about someone who’s driven you nuts but doesn't deserve anything truly terrible for it. It's just us being petty!"
What the Girls' Bathroom Is For, another playful recent single, celebrates the fun and unfiltered female friendship at the group's core. "We turned 18 together so we were in nightclub bathrooms every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, meeting girls and making best friends with them," Holly says. Though the trio really enjoy writing and performing emotional ballads – check out the lovely, pleading Prove Me Right – they're always going to infuse their music with humour. Even the title of their Eurovision song is a nod to the sheer head-spinning randomness of competing in the world’s biggest song contest. "What the hell just happened?" is what Charlotte, Holly and Lauren expect to say to each other as they walk off stage in Basel on 17th May.
Performing for Eurovision's global TV audience of 160 million will be an experience like no other. But, to borrow an expression from the country scene that inspires them, this isn't Remember Monday's first time at the rodeo. In fact, the trio began singing together at sixth form college back in 2012. The first song they ever worked on – a harmony-led rendition of Tori Kelly's acoustic cover of Michael Jackson's PYT (Pretty Young Thing) – so impressed their teachers and classmates that they decided to apply for The X Factor.
Back then, they called themselves Houston because it alluded to their love of country music. "We were always quite embarrassed about that band name because we basically came up with it on the spot when we filled out the X Factor form," Holly says. At their audition, judge Sharon Osbourne told the girls they "looked like they'd come straight from the library", but they still made it through to the boot camp stage. But at this point, they realised they weren't ready to commit to a hugely time-consuming reality show process. "We all had a girls holiday booked so we pulled out," Charlotte recalls with a laugh. "Some people ask if it's our biggest regret, but I actually think it's the best thing we could have done."
The X Factor may have felt like a false start, but it actually reaffirmed two things: one, the trio loved singing together; and two, their voices blended together beautifully. "People very kindly compliment us on our harmonies now, and I do think we've got them to this level because we've been singing together for 13 years," Lauren says. "But I also think we're very lucky in that our voices created this very natural blended sound right from the start."
So, they carried on singing together when they took different individual paths after college. Each group member has extensive musical theatre experience including West End productions of Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera (Holly), Mary Poppins (Charlotte) and Matilda (Lauren). The trio's first official gig was opening for future Bridgerton star Luke Newton, whom Holly starred with in the 2015 London revival of rock musical Loserville. Three years later, they renamed the band Remember Monday as a nod to their regular rehearsal day. "At college, our free periods always seemed to fall on a Monday, and then when we went into full-time work, our days off always fell on a Monday too," Holly recalls. "It just became a little in-joke to say: 'Remember Monday?'"
In 2019, they became the first trio to audition for The Voice UK. Their impassioned rendition of Seal's Kiss from a Rose impressed all four coaches, but Remember Monday chose to work with Jennifer Hudson. "We got more out of that experience than we were ever expecting," Charlotte says. "We just went into it for exposure because there were rumblings that country music might be building in the UK. But Jennifer was just amazing – we're still in contact with her now." In fact, the Oscar-winning actress remains so invested in Remember Monday that she funded one of their music videos. "We asked if she'd like an executive producer credit,” Charlotte adds, "but she was like, 'No, I just want to help you guys get your music out there."'
Since 2019, Remember Monday have focused on doing just that by self-releasing two EPs and 13 singles including What the Hell Just Happened?. During the socially distanced days of the pandemic, they would meet up in car parks and record cover versions for TikTok. When their rendition of Heart's Alone picked up traction, they got addicted to the "thrill" of building a fanbase on the app, where they now have 543,000 followers and 11.5 million likes. They credit the app with expanding their fanbase beyond "older country music fans" to include Gen Z and millennial "gays and girlies" who really appreciate their pop songcraft.
In 2023, when they sold out London venue Omeara in 24 hours, they decided to quit their day jobs and focus on Remember Monday. A year later, they sold out a UK tour – and now comes the biggest stage of all: Eurovision. "We have some absolute bangers coming that continue the poppier sound of What the Hell Just Happened?, but we'll always have a country influence because of our harmonies and storytelling," Holly says. At this point, Remember Monday know exactly what vibe they’re presenting to the world: "We're relatable gals that you'd like to be friends with because we'd like to be friends with you." Truly, there's no one else you'd rather end up in a tattoo parlour with at the end of a night out.
