The Leisure Society – The Sleeper
Musical trends come and go but the one staple that remains is that
regardless of arrangement, the human voice has the ability to connect
with an audience. Beautiful voices and glorious harmonies will always
find a place in people’s hearts and record collections. The collective
known as The Leisure Society know this adage well and their album, The
Sleeper is filled with moments of transcendent vocal beauty.
Most of the songs feature a lush background of acoustic instrumentation
or low volume electrics that fall on the side of unobtrusive but
perfectly buttress the vocals that float on the top. Bandleader Nick
Hemming has surrounded himself with musicians that surrender their
individual egos to the common good and as such the songs all have a
consistency that borders on telepathic.
The group also features a number of multi-instrumentalists in its ranks
and this gives them the ability to add a lot of fine details in the
background that might not be immediately apparent. This sets up the
opportunity to reward listeners with each new listen.
The Sleeper is an impressive work and one that is supplemented by the
addition of a bonus eight track EP that includes a wonderful cover of
Gary Numan’s song Cars. Who would have thought any artist could make
that cold and detached track sound so light-hearted and inviting? Rob Hudson www.theleisuresociety.co.uk orwww.myspace.com/theleisuresociety
also featured
Slivovitz – Bani Ahead When you have superlative players’ on board, things can easily digress
into instrumental insurrection, on Bani Ahead, Slivovitz side step this
problem by being almost completely consumed by the groove. Read more >>
Big Deal – Lights Out All band notoriety aside, is there any subject matter that creates more column inches than love?
Read more >>
My Best Fiend – In Ghostlike Fading Like the Werner Herzog film the band is named after, My Best Fiend delivers an album deep in duality.
Read more >>
Zola Jesus – Conatus With an approach that washes over you with waves of melody both obvious
and subdued, Zola Jesus (Nika Roza Danilova) sets out to get under your
skin.
Read more >>
Moraine – Manifest Density In a season when music is almost everywhere and most of it is inept
Christmas blathering, it’s great to have your very own indulgent music
art form to escape to. In our house that usually means only one thing,
prog rock!
Read more >>
The Beach Boys – Smile Sessions One of the prime musical examples of that adage of there being a thin
line between genius and insanity is personified by Brian Wilson and his
work on the Smile project. Read more >>
Trophy Wife – Bruxism Walking the fine line between twee and frothy, Trophy Wife succeed in
creating a kinder and gentler type of disco for a new generation of
listeners who wouldn’t dream of wearing polyester or gold.
Read more >>
Feist – Metals In our age of information overload, the cult of personality can grow for no real substantial reason.
Read more >>
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Winterland Some say The Jimi Hendrix Experience Mark 1 was the purest distillation
of Jimi’s enormous talent and they may have a valid point.
Read more >>