The Leisure Society – The Fine Art of Hanging On

Album

In April 2015, The Leisure Society's fourth studio album The Fine Art of Hanging On was released, receiving the strongest critical reaction since their debut.

Artist

The Leisure Society are an English rock band formed by Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy of Burton upon Trent.

History

Hemming was formerly of early 1990s indie band She Talks to Angels, which included actor Paddy Considine, and film director Shane Meadows. Hemming wrote and performed music for the films A Room for Romeo Brass and Dead Man's Shoes. He was also a member of The Telescopes.

In 2006 Hemming moved to London to work with multi-instrumentalist and producer Christian Hardy; the pair have subsequently built a live band drawn from members of Brighton's Willkommen Collective and further afield, notably Mike Siddell who previously played violin with Hope of the States and The Miserable Rich and currently performs with Lightspeed Champion and Troubles. Other members of the band played with The Miserable Rich and currently play with Sons of Noel and Adrian and more.

The Leisure Society have been recipients of critical acclaim, being dubbed the English answer to popular U.S acts such as Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles and Fleet Foxes.

The Sleeper

Their debut single, The Last of the Melting Snow, was honoured with a 2009 Ivor Novello nomination for Best Song Musically & Lyrically.

In July 2009 the band signed with UK label Full Time Hobby, prompting the re-release of The Sleeper with a bonus EP entitled A Product of the Ego Drain. In September 2009, Brian Eno cited the band as "The only other thing I've been listening to lately with enthusiasm", calling it "Such a beautiful album". This prompted a meeting between Hemming, Hardy and Eno at Eno's London studio.

The third single from The Sleeper, "Save It For Someone Who Cares", was also nominated for the Ivor Novello in the same category as the previous year, making the band one of very few consecutive nominees.

The band covered children's song "Inchworm" from Hans Christian Andersen for American Laundromat Records charity CD Sing Me To Sleep – Indie Lullabies, released in May 2010.

Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy also play with childhood friend Tim West in The Climbers, whose debut album was released in May 2010.

Into The Murky Water

The band's second album Into The Murky Water was released in May 2011 and received glowing critical praise and gave the band their first chart position.

The first single from the album, "This Phantom Life", was released with a video starring Green Wing's Mark Heap.

In June 2011, the band were approached by Ray Davies to collaborate on his new songs, resulting in a performance as part of his Meltdown festival.

Alone Aboard the Ark

In April 2013, the band's third studio album Alone Aboard the Ark was released, once again receiving a strong critical reaction from journalists and DJs.

The Fine Art of Hanging On

In April 2015, the band's fourth studio album The Fine Art of Hanging On was released, receiving the strongest critical reaction since their debut.

Arrivals & Departures

In January 2019, the band announced that their fifth studio album, Arrivals & Departures would be released on 12 April 2019, via their own label, Ego Drain Records.

In the madness and island
Another lame animal
Defeating the odds with
A fistful of Avalon
The pages of angels
Narrating their downfall
The blood in the veins is all that we've ever known

If there's nothing above us
And nothing below us
And nothing between us
Then how do I get over that?
A failure, a saviour
The fine art of hanging on
Has whipped us to lift a life from the remnants

And we put it all together
A port in the eye of the storm
Does it pain you that the flame
We thought would grow
Now burns so low?

We were boarding the tall ships
Eclipsing oblivion
Deciding it all sang
A whole new significance
It's made in the waiting
A float on a reservoir
It's borne us to form a start from an ending

And we put it all together
A port in the eye of the storm
Does it pain you that the flame
We thought would grow
Now burns so low?

Does it pain you that the flame
We thought would grow
Now burns so low?

Nella follia e nell'isola
Un altro animale zoppo
Sconfiggere le probabilità con
Un pugno di Avalon
Le pagine degli angeli
Raccontare la loro caduta
Il sangue nelle vene è tutto ciò che abbiamo mai conosciuto

Se non c'è niente sopra di noi
E niente sotto di noi
E niente tra noi
Allora come faccio a superarlo?
Un fallimento, un salvatore
La bella arte di resistere
Ci ha frustato per sollevare una vita dai resti

E abbiamo messo tutto insieme
Un porto nell'occhio del ciclone
Ti fa male che la fiamma
Abbiamo pensato di crescere
Ora brucia così in basso?

Stavamo imbarcandoci sulle navi alte
Oblio eclissante
Decidere tutto ha cantato
Un significato completamente nuovo
È fatto nell'attesa
Un galleggiante su un serbatoio
Ci ha portato a formare un inizio da un finale

E abbiamo messo tutto insieme
Un porto nell'occhio del ciclone
Ti fa male che la fiamma
Abbiamo pensato di crescere
Ora brucia così in basso?

Ti fa male che la fiamma
Abbiamo pensato di crescere
Ora brucia così in basso?