The Leisure Society

The Leisure Society Announce New Single, July UK Tour + Meltdown Appearance With Ray Davies

www.myspace.com/theleisuresociety 
www.fulltimehobby.co.uk

“Complex and delicate” 4/5 The Guardian 
“A grand life-affirming chronicle” 8/10 Clash 
“Into the Murky Water comes from the same school of witty, wistful tunefulness as The Divine Comedy”BBC Music 
“committed, genuine, honest and lovingly cultivated” Drowned in Sound

The Leisure Society have announced details of the release of a new single, the second to be taken from their critically acclaimed long player and Rough Trade’s current ‘Album Of The Month’ ‘Into The Murky Water’. ‘You Could Keep Me Talking’ will be released digitally on Monday 11th July via Full Time Hobby and features the exclusive B-side ‘A Richer Dust’. The band will also on tour in the UK from July onwards including appearances at Lattitude, Green Man, End of The Road and several others, please see below for full details.

Following their recent May UK live dates, which included an intimate show at the SEA LIFE London Aquarium(pictured), a rapturous sold out show at the Union Chapel and live national radio sessions for Dermot O’Leary amongst others, The Leisure Society have been personally chosen by Ray Davies to appear at his forthcoming Meltdown run at the Southbank Centre. This will take place on12th June, when the band will perform alongside Ray himself in a set that will even include songs by The Kinks (a dream come true for lifelong fan and chief songwriter Nick Hemming). This forms part of ‘An Evening With Clive Anderson’ – a night of music, comedy and drama to launch mental health charity SANE’s 25th Anniversary Year of the Black Dog campaign.

UK live shows in full:

JUNE 
12th London Royal Festival Hall (Meltdown)

JULY 
2nd Tonbridge Hop Farm Festival 
9th Eastleigh Eastleigh Festival 
17th Southwold Latitude Festival 
23rd Topcliffe Deer Shed Festival

AUGUST 
19th-21st Glanusk Park Green Man Festival

SEPTEMBER 
2nd-4th Larmer Tree Gardens End of the Road Festival

OCTOBER 
15th Norwich Arts Centre 
16th Cambridge Junction 
22nd Clitheroe The Grand 
23rd Sheffield The Harley 
24th Newcastle Cluny 
25th Birmingham Glee Club 
27th Belfast Black Box 
28th Dublin Whelans

The band will be shortly announcing details of a very special London show in October.

The story of the ‘You Could Keep Me Talking’’s gestation is something of an odd one, as Nick Hemming from the band explains:

“When I played the rough demo of this I think everyone was a little shocked at how unashamedly pop it was - at least by my standards. It’s basically a song about my social failings & how awkward I feel at parties. It was written in a hungover daze the morning after a Christmas party we were invited to at Brian Eno’s house. I was a particularly self-conscious party-goer that night, due to the illustrious company, and I compensated by necking booze as fast as was humanly possible. At one point we went outside for a cigarette, I reached into my jacket pocket for a lighter, only to realise that I was somehow wearing a woman’s coat that was several sizes too small. Too-drunk-to-be-embarrassed was the state I was aiming for - mission accomplished.”

Fellow band member Christian Hardy adds:

“This was a lot of fun to record, not just because it brings to mind dozens of memories of Nick’s famed awkwardness and social faux pas, but because it has lots of big crescendos and twists and turns. Musically it was all about getting the clicky bass, guitars and drums locked in, then we had fun building the arrangement around those. I got to play vintage harpsichords with tiny wooden keys that needed total accuracy. This was one of the songs where we drafted in a temporary choir of musician friends to add to our ranks and get a big communal vocal sound. Those sessions are always fun.”

In regards to the B-side, ‘A Richer Dust’, Nick and Christian had the following to say:

Nick: “I wrote it about 5 years ago and recorded a demo version without drums or orchestration. The title was inspired by a series of books full of archaic photos. The new version features the sound of Brighton beach seagulls (whose incessant squawking kept me up one night and inspired the first verse).”

Christian: “There’s a stamping and clapping overdub at the end that we recorded in Union Chapel to get the big natural reverb sound.”