Sometimes, I find things on the Internet I never expected to find. Maybe it’s random chance. Maybe it’s kismet. Maybe it’s just luck. Click links, wander down strange paths, and the thing you never knew you wanted is just… there.
That’s what happened on Friday.
I found myself reviewing a review of an album that hasn’t been released yet, by a band I have never heard of.
The band is The Leisure Society. The album is The Sleeper.
The review was published in The Bunton Mail, from a place called Bunton-Upon-Trent.
(As a random aside, I like how places in England are called Something-Upon-Something. I feel like we lost something on this side of the Atlantic. Albany-Upon-Hudson or Richmond-Upon-James sounds so much more interesting than Albany or Richmond.)
Said the review: “Their first single, The Last of the Melting Snow, was released to critical acclaim and has even received lavish praise from Elbows Guy Garvey. Now it seems their debut album, The Sleeper, is set to go one better, with rumours of a Mercury Prize nomination getting stronger by the day.” And yes, Garvey did praise “The Last of the Melting Snow,” saying “Absolutely beautiful A delicate beautiful song,” as indeed the song is.
The album is available in the United States thorugh iTunes, and I bought the album Friday night as a blind buy.
I’d be hard-pressed to pick a single word to describe The Sleeper. Intoxicating. Haunting. Moving. Visionary. Don’t make me choose only one — I can’t.
There’s a Nick Drake-ish quality to The Sleeper. The lyrics are literate, the songs are inventive in their musicianship. Sonically, the songs here are always revealing new things to catch the ears’ attention.
I think I could listen to “The Last of the Melting Snow” or “A Matter of Time” forever. I’m taken with “The Sleeper” for being so baldly nihilistic in its lyrics. These songs sound like they come from another plane of existence, a higher plane, where sounds mingle with the clouds and create something magical.
This is the neatest album I’ve heard thus far this year. Is it any wonder I’m an Anglophile?
The Sleeper is available in the UK starting today from retailers like Amazon.co.uk or directly from Willkommen Records. And in the US, it’s available through iTunes. Sadly, nothing physical, but with music this ethereal, you don’t need physicality. 😉
I’m absolutely taken with The Leisure Society’s The Sleeper. I think you will be, too. At the very least, spend the ninety-nine cents and buy either “The Last of the Melting Snow” or “A Matter of Time” from iTunes.
Don’t believe me or trust my artistic instincts? Try MOJO‘s four-star review of The Sleeper from their April issue: “In short, they’ve created a sound steeped in the finest folk-pop traditions while retaining a very British streak of humour and individuality.”
I’ve no doubt that The Leisure Society has a bright musical future ahead of them. I’m already looking forward to their next release. 🙂
Originally published here.