Families Release Posthumous Debut Viola Beach Album

London: The families of members of Viola Davis have released their self-title debut album posthumously.

All four members of the band and their manager Craig Tarry died when their car plunged into a canal in Sweden.

The Official Charts Company said Viola Beach's self-titled album was leading the chart by around 6,000 sales.

The families of the Warrington band said they have released the album to “celebrate” their lives.

The four-piece band consisted of singer Kris Leonard, guitarist River Reeves, bassist Tomas Lowe and drummer Jack Dakin.

Their album features nine songs including Swings And Waterslides – which reached the Top 20 in the singles chart earlier this year.

The Warrington group members died on February 13, 2016. They played a gig at a festival in Norrkoping, Sweden, the previous night and were on their way back to the UK at the time of the crash. News of the tragedy sent the band’s debut single, Swings & Waterslides, to the top of the iTunes chart.

In June, Coldplay paid tribute to Viola Beach at Glastonbury by performing the band's song Boys That Sing as part of their headline slot on the Pyramid Stage.

In a statement the families of the band said: “We are tremendously proud of everything the boys achieved in such a short space of time.” “Craig, Jack, Kris, River and Tom shared a huge passion, talent and dedication to music.” “We believe the best way to celebrate our sons' lives is to release an album of their songs.” “This is their legacy and we know deep in our hearts that the boys would want the world to listen to the music they poured everything into.” They added, “We hope that it brings you as much happiness listening to it as we know it did to them making it.” River’s brother, Fin Reeves, said the songs on the album were about living life to the full.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he said, “That’s the feeling they were trying to get across and that's what they were doing.” “We have done everything we can to get their creativity and their ideas into the album.” “We have done our best to have it how they would have wanted.”

This week’s official chart will be revealed by DJ Greg James on BBC Radio 1 at 17:00 BST on Friday.