The Leisure Society
Into the Murky Water
Release Date: May 2, 2011
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock
Record label: Full Time Hobby
Music Critic Score
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Album Review: Into the Murky Water by The Leisure Society
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Oh melody! Oh harmony! What became of your comely embraces? It seems to me that in the past couple of years, more cutting-edge musical tastes seems to have veered sharply and suspiciously away from melodicism in favour of a harsher, darker and somewhat jerkier territory. Sweet is suspicious; soft is sinful: we find our fruits difficult to accept if they aren’t bitterly tinged and covered tough peel. To me, the reasons for this are simple and understandable.
Based on rating 3/5
They might be [a]The Leisure Society[/a], but this string-laden folk-pop collective haven’t been putting their feet up. Their second album skips merrily between [a]Scott Walker[/a] balladeering and the symphonic, jaunty indie of [a]The Divine Comedy[/a].Nobody’s pretending this lot balance on the razor-sharp blade of the cutting edge. Even so, their orchestral whimsy presses the ‘lovely, bordering on twee’ button.
Based on rating 3/5
TLS's wistful 2008 Christmas single "The Last of the Melting Snow" had a cockle-warming story. Songwriter Nick Hemming was working in a warehouse when the song was playlisted by 6 Music; it was later nominated for an Ivor Novello award. The feelgood factor comes down a notch on this second album, with Hemming musing wryly on regret and midlife desperation in an attempt to place a deeper sadness at the heart of TLS's lush English pastoral.
Opinion: Very Good
Second album of literate pop from Brighton via Burton-on-Trent outfit. Paul Lester 2011 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".