Leisure Society - The Sleeper

  by Benjamin Howarth

published: 5 / 4 / 2009

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Review

‘Genuinely baffled’, that is how I would describe my reactions to the fact that I don’t seem to have read anything much about this lush and beautiful album anywhere else this year. This album really doesn’t sound much like a debut, and when you see the band play live, you will see that they don’t sound much like a new band either. On stage, they are confident and relaxed, with gentle jokes between each song, and a lush sound where eight or nine players fit seamlessly together. The ghost of Nick Drake certainly haunts their practice room, and his wistful downbeat melodies are clearly an influence on the song writing of Nick Hemming (once the guitar player with the Telescopes, fact fans). Stretching the Drake comparison further, his chief collaborator Christian Hardy adds arrangements that would sound flimsy on their own but add grace and poise to these melodies, much as Robert Kirby did for Drake. Trying to guess the band’s influences is nearly as fun as actually listening to the songs. It would be bold not to mention Belle and Sebastian as well. Granted, there is no hint of any interest in the C86 jingle pop that clearly formed much of the Belle and Sebastian sound, but when the Leisure Society combine strings, flutes and occasionally bursts into upbeat folk from sleepy folk, it is hard not to see some similarities. Meanwhile, its also clear that alt-country and 60s pop from California have also been on the band’s stereos in recent years. But comparisons are only a clue to what this band sound like, because I could list too many (off the top of my head, Sufjan Stevens is another you might be reminded of). The only explanation I can give for why this band weren’t cited as the band to watch at the beginning of the year is their age, and the fact that this is neither Hemming nor Hardy’s first band (maybe the same fact explains the curious underselling of 2009’s other truly great newcomers Joe Gideon and the Shark). Hemming was apparently in a band in the early 90s with two now-prominent filmmakers. Not being a film buff, I have to confess total ignorance as to who they are, but I’m assured they are now genuinely famous. (You may also recognise one other member as the former violinist with the once highly touted Hope of the States). All this comes together in a breathtakingly good album - each song has its own charm, and I’m not ready to fully explain a record that will certainly be the soundtrack to this year and then many other years to come. To be honest, I feel like I’m only just beginning to get to know it. Perhaps already a strong marker for album of the year, and quite simply one for every Pennyblackmusic reader to investigate for themselves. Also, while you’re on the way to the record store, this would be worth an early bet as a possible Mercury music prize nominee.

Track Listing:-

1 A Fighting Chance
2 The Sleeper
3 The Last of the Melting Snow
4 A Short Weekend Begins with Longing
5 We Were Wasted
6 Save It for Someone Who Cares
7 The Darkest Place I Know
8 Are We Happy?
9 Come to Your Senses
10 A Matter of Time
11 Love's Enormous Wings
12 Save It for Someone Who Cares (Single Version)
13 A Short Weekend Begins with Longing (Original Demo)
14 Cars (Gary Numan Cover)
15 A Passing Thought
16 Pancake Day
17 If God Did Give Me a Choice
18 Bona Fide
19 The Wayfarer

Band Links:-

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

Have a Listen:-