The Leisure Society

The Leisure Society

The Leisure Society is a British folk-pop group that forms in Brighton in 2009, led by Nick Hemming. It begins as part of the Brighton-based Wilkommen Collective after Hemming and Christian Hardy, who first know each other in Burton on Trent, move to London and work with Helen Whitaker, Mike Siddell and Sebastian Hankins. The group is active from 2006 and is based in London, with Jon Cox, Sebastian Hankins, Nick Hemming and Mike Siddell among the listed members.

Early releases and recognition

The band’s debut single, The Last Of The Melting Snow, comes from the first album The Sleeper and receives an Ivor Novello nomination in 2009 for Best Song Musically & Lyrically. In 2010, Save It For Someone Who Cares is nominated in the same category, making the group one of the few acts to receive consecutive nominations. The Sleeper is recorded in home studios, as is the follow-up album Into The Murky Water, released in 2011.

Albums and recording style

The group releases Alone Aboard The Ark in 2013 on Full Time Hobby. It is recorded at Ray Davies’ Konk Studios, using a 2-inch tape machine and a 1970s mixing desk. The album follows summer rehearsals beside the River Ouse in Bedfordshire and develops the band’s baroque pop sound with more varied instrumentation and orchestration. The record includes brass from Nick Etwell, electric guitar parts recorded with Christian and Mike’s two Gretches at opposite ends of the studio, and a piano part for We Go Together that changes after Christian has a late-night inspiration while drunk.

Sound and collaborators

The Leisure Society’s music combines folk-pop and baroque pop, with later material also using synths for the first time on Alone Aboard The Ark. The track Fight For Everyone uses six vintage synth lines layered by Helen and Christian. Ray Davies, who owns Konk Studios, also seeks out the band to help arrange and record his solo material, and includes them in his curation of the 2011 Meltdown Festival on the South Bank. The band also performs an in distinctive fashion on tour, including a London Barbican date backed by the 40-piece Heritage Orchestra.

Songwriting themes

Nick Hemming’s writing on Alone Aboard The Ark includes references to Sylvia Plath in The Sober Scent of Paper, while Tearing The Arches Down uses a wry narrative style and Fight For Everyone reflects on British sporting success and the experience of being an also-ran. The band describes the making of the album as a collective process, with a strong sense of “gang mentality” across the group.