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Product Description
Review
Even before you get to the music there is plenty to pique one’s interest with The Leisure Society. Mainman Nick Hemming was in 90s shoegaze band The Telescopes and shared a further outfit with actor Paddy Considine and director Shane Meadows. They had two consecutive Ivor Novello nominations in 2009 and 2010, for Best Song Musically and Lyrically, and have had the approbation of everyone from Guy Garvey to Brian Eno, who described their debut album The Sleeper as "beautiful".
It’s a certain type of beautiful that TLS offer. If you liked Shelleyan Orphan or enjoy The Mummers today, they should take your fancy. As with those two, you get the sense not of pop groups but of collectives; of a core team with additional musicians drafted in when extra colours and textures are required. In the case of TLS, that means, variously, double-bass, violin, cello, flute, mandolin, glockenspiel, drums and maracas.
There are almost as many words as sounds. Even the titles go on a bit. Hemming isn’t as furiously verbose as Elvis Costello, as cerebral as Paddy McAloon or as geekily deranged as Jarvis Cocker, but he’s in that general ballpark. More than anyone, he recalls Neil Hannon: Into the Murky Water comes from the same school of witty, wistful tunefulness as The Divine Comedy. And this despite suggestions that TLS are a UK counterpart to Grizzly Bear and Fleet Foxes.
This isn’t Americana, it’s quintessentially English fare. There are hints of US or European influences – for example, Dust on the Dancefloor brings to mind motorik folk pop, like The Modern Lovers and Neu! in a clinch with Belle and Sebastian, and Better Written Off (Than Written Down) is jaunty country rock – but it mostly has the ornate feel and quaint ambience of a 1930s seaside tearoom. Hemming’s voice has some of the adenoidal quaver but none of the florid flamboyance of Roy Orbison (or Hayden Thorpe from Wild Beasts), allowing the autumnal melancholy to unfold and "each savoured syllable", as he sings on Although We Are All Lost, to be heard. It all adds up to a record for those who want thrills but don’t want them dumb.
--Paul Lester
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CD Description
The Leisure Society make a triumphant return with this, their second album.
Recorded across a mock Tudor mansion, Trinity Music College and songwriter Nick Hemming's apartment, `Into The Murky Water' is a darker and more expansive record yet still crammed with the delicate orchestration and finely crafted melodies that have earned the band two consecutive Ivor Novello songwriting nominations.
First single to be taken from the album, `This Phantom Life', is accompanied by a hilarious video starring actor and comedian Mark Heap, and the band also count Brian Eno and Guy Garvey amongst their high profile fans.
Released on CD, digital download and limited edition heavyweight vinyl including free download code (500 copies), `Into The Murky Water' is a timeless album that is set to propel The Leisure Society into the mainstream.
Recorded across a mock Tudor mansion, Trinity Music College and songwriter Nick Hemming's apartment, `Into The Murky Water' is a darker and more expansive record yet still crammed with the delicate orchestration and finely crafted melodies that have earned the band two consecutive Ivor Novello songwriting nominations.
First single to be taken from the album, `This Phantom Life', is accompanied by a hilarious video starring actor and comedian Mark Heap, and the band also count Brian Eno and Guy Garvey amongst their high profile fans.
Released on CD, digital download and limited edition heavyweight vinyl including free download code (500 copies), `Into The Murky Water' is a timeless album that is set to propel The Leisure Society into the mainstream.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absurdly lovely,
By Crawton Leek "Swan In Mystery Garment" (The Lesser Newcastle, England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Into The Murky Water (Audio CD)
Appropriately enough for an album released just as the weather began to improve, `Into The Murky Water' is the aural equivalent of sitting in the beer garden of a quaint country pub with a ploughman's lunch and a foaming pint of nut brown ale. Packed with flavour and shot through with a comforting warmth, this is an album made for lazy sunny days.There is also an air of eccentricity to the album, which was conceived during a road trip along the British coast. The decision was made early on to use only authentic instruments, regardless of how inconvenient that may prove to be. So it came to pass that the band trekked the length of the country just to find the right pipe organ sound or to tickle the keys of a vintage harpsichord. Thankfully, their efforts paid off. This is a fulsome and grand record, packed with sturdy instrumentation yet not at the expense of clear, hummable melodies. From the very first track the listener is confronted by all manner of instruments, yet the experience is not overwhelming. What could have felt like an acoustic assault feels much more akin to a harmonic hug thanks to the band's natural grasp of song craft. For the most part the music is up-tempo and chipper - such as the sprightly percussion of the eponymous opener or the delirious sway of `You Could Keep Me Talking' - but even when the mood dips, it strikes for wistful rather than melancholy. `Our Hearts Burn Like Damp Matches' is a prime example of this - a song ideal for gazing out of a train window with a wry smile. The closest comparison one could reasonably draw would be to the work of Divine Comedy. The two acts hold a similar grasp of lyricism and melody, each being capable of sweeping and soaring in the most enjoyable fashion, yet also able to restrain themselves sufficiently to allow the natural beauty of a song to shine through. Vocally, the Leisure Society are rather lighter, yet there is still adequate substance to ensure that the voice is not lost amid the excitable clamour of the music. Suffice to say, if you only buy one quirky indie-pop-folk album this Summer, make it this one. Just do it quickly, while the sun's still here...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Into the marvelous CD,
By
This review is from: Into The Murky Water (Audio CD)
This is the second outing for the most well known band to come out of Brighton `Wilkommen Collective', the Leisure Society. Whilst this really is a team effort, front man Nick Hemming wrote all the music so deserves most of the laurels for this one.They had a theory on how this album wanted to sound, in that they only wanted to use authentic natural instruments. So we have a smorgasbord of interesting things being played such as harpsichord, theramin (?), flexatone, marimba and my favourite flugal horn (cos you know it sounds smutty). It opens like a sixties theme tune with the title track and even has background Hollywoodesque operatics. One of my friends said on first hearing it is very like the excellent `Sleeper'The Sleeper, which is actually not a bad thing. The whole album hangs together beautifully belying the amount of effort that has clearly gone into it. `Our hearts burn like damp matches', is a lovely soft ballad and has the line `Every day arrives too late, Every morning seems the same, Stale regrets and dull routine'. They bring a summery welcome to music that just makes you want to smile, there is even a touch of Bix Beiderbecke going on at one point too, it may not be original but it don't half sound good. A word on the sleeve, it is just fab, with a cut out outer sleeve and a book type presentation, with some lovely comic style underwater artwork and full lyrics, just quality and to quote from `Although we are lost' -`We know we're happy now'. As with their first album this takes a while to get into, but it is well worth the effort, my current favourite is `Better written off (than written down)' which seems to get better each time and has music twists that are a trade mark in generosity of this great band, Miss at your peril and they are an absolute must see live too.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Band,
This review is from: Into The Murky Water (Audio CD)
And great album. Bought as a Christmas present for a fan, didn't realise how good this band is, but am now going to try to catch them live.
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