The Leisure Society, Bush Hall 12/01/09

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Photographs by Sonny Malhotra

It’s obvious that the driving creative forces behind The Leisure Society come from Nick Hemming’s vocal and multi-instrumental talents, and from pianist and vocalist Christian Hardy. But as they launch into their first song of the evening we are reminded that their subtle harmonies and wistful romanticism would not be as stunningly beautiful as they are without the live band members. Mainly drawn from the Brighton based Willkommen Collective they comprise of no less than a double bass, a cello, a glockenspiel, maracas, drums, a ukulele, a mandolin and most notably violinist Mike Siddell who previously played with Hope Of The States.

Shortly into their set The Leisure Society play ‘Pancake Day,’ a cheery banjo-led number, which they announce is all you ever need to know about “Gangster Rap, Pancakes and Religion.” ‘The Darkest Place I Know,’ with its trembling violin, spine tingling cello melody and goose-pimple-inducing double bass line proves to be a crowd favourite along with ‘Sleeper’ and Kink’s cover ‘People Take Pictures of Each Other.’ The latter’s staccato lyrics and ukulele are played as the encore, which before disappearing after the main set Nick jokes “is not customary now-a-days, but if you cheer loud enough we may well have accidentally practiced another song.”

The highlight of the evening for many has to be the (often-compared-to-Neil-Young) previous single ‘The Last of the Melting Snow.’ And with Mark Radcliffe calling it “absolutely heavenly” and Lauren Laverne labellng it “utterly beguiling” there are few adequate superlatives left for me to describe this beautifully frail slice of acoustic folk. Hopefully, after being voted listeners choice for record of the week on the Radcliffe and Maconie show on Radio 2 a few weeks ago, and with the forthcoming release of debut album Sleeper, The Leisure Society will not be a little-known band for long.

mp3:> The Leisure Society: ‘We Were Wasted’
mp3:> The Leisure Society: ‘Come To Your Senses’

The Leisure Society on MySpace