Leisure Society - Into the Murky Water

by Benjamin Howarth

published: 9 / 6 / 2011

Label: Full Time Hobby
Format: CD

intro

Soaring, yet over conventional folk pop on second album from the much acclaimed the Leisure Society

Emerging in 2009, the Leisure Society enjoyed critical acclaim, plenty of radio-play and two Ivor Novello awards for their first album, ‘The Sleeper’. Having initially been part of the Wilkommen Collective, a south-coast hub of folkies and songwriters, they now have the backing of a larger label – Full Time Hobby – who will be hoping that ‘Into the Murky Water’ builds on the critical acclaim enjoyed already. The formula broadly remains the same – gentle folk/pop backed by woodwind and a string quartet. At their best, the Leisure Society are equally adept at either jaunty sing-along pop or slow-cooked epics. They reach their peak on ‘The Hungry Years’, where a lilting verse builds into a soaring chorus before the string quartet and choral backing vocals give way to a ‘Rubber Soul’ style coda. With banjos and ukuleles having become the instruments of choice for aspiring hitmakers, the Leisure Society’s folk leanings might see them bunched in with Laura Marling, Stornaway and Mumford and Sons. But, while the folk structures are in place, songwriter Nick Hemming seems to work from a very different set of references to his immediate peers. His lilting waltzes hark back to a time between the wars, while the gentle self deprecation in songs like ‘I Shall Forever Remain an Amateur’ and ‘Our Hearts Burn Like Damp Matches’ suggest a fondness for the wit of Wodehouse and Waugh. ‘Into the Murky Water’ is far more focused than the band’s debut – the soaring pop tunes are back, but gone are the occasional moments where nothing much seemed to happen. Yet, as much as I like these songs, I’m also left with a nagging feeling that there is another gear within reach, and that for whatever reason, they’ve reined themselves into a conventional pop format when they might have made something more striking and imaginative.

Track Listing:-

1 Into The Murky Water
2 Dust On The Dancefloor
3 Our Hearts Burn Like Damp Matches
4 You Could Keep Me Talking
5 Although We All Are Lost
6 This Phantom Life
7 The Hungry Years
8 I Shall Forever Remain An Amateur
9 Better Written Off (Than Written Down)
10 Just Like The Knife

Band Links:-

http://the-leisure-society.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/leisuresociety
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Leisure+Society
https://www.facebook.com/theleisuresociety

Label Links:-

https://www.youtube.com/user/FullTimeHobbyRecords
http://www.fulltimehobby.co.uk/main/
https://www.facebook.com/FullTimeHobby
https://twitter.com/fulltimehobby
https://plus.google.com/101265945502860799533

Have a Listen:-

interviews

Interview (2009)

Lush-sounding pop outfit the Leisure Society have been gaining increasing exposure since releasing their debut album, 'The Sleeper', earlier this year and have just signed to Full Time Hobby records. Ben Howrth talks to front man Nick Hemming about his band