Groovy and understated, Side A from New Zealand’s LEISURE is a perfect companion record to the warmer months at hand.
The journey that started with Slipping Away, a single released almost a year and a half back, has just concluded with Side A from New Zealand supergroup LEISURE. A collective of prominent producers and songwriters from around the country, LEISURE were primed for success before they even released their first record. Now we have a two albums and an EP, each as good as the last.
The Side A EP ripples with the same psychedelic groove fans have come to know and love; a warm, lazy energy that’ll have you taking your next day off by the horns.
For those who’ve been following LEISURE since Slipping Away, there aren’t too many surprises to be found within Side A. Spark Up and Lonely Nights were also released as warm-up singles, meaning the new cuts are Eye 2 Eye and Beautiful. They walk a similar line to the rest of the EP, maybe even using the same synth patch for their respective progressions. When you strike gold, it seems, you keep digging.
Eye 2 Eye is perhaps the catchier of the two, serving as the EP’s middle track with an earworm hook and a more prominent beat. Beautiful is a record-closer through and through, a little more meandering than the rest of the tracklist, ending the journey with a cool demeanour.
Given the band’s many creative brains, it’s wonderful to see such a cohesive release come together. Throughout the runtime Side A is intimate, teeming with lush tones, never straying too far from the gooey, luxurious creative centre the group have carved out.
The EP was written while the five-piece were sequestered away in Paris together, away from home and family. So if you felt a little burning romance come through the headphones, you’d be spot on.
“We were away for about 3 weeks so everyone was feeling the distance I think,” LEISURE’s Tom Young shared.
“When you’re going through the daily timetable with your significant other you can sometimes take some things for granted. Sometimes it takes a bit of space between you to get a clearer view. Take that and then throw in five songwriters, shit loads of cask wine and you might have yourself a few yearners.”
Side A is out now. Stream the EP here.
