It’s the year of 2023, also known as the year of 'Leisurevision', as the New Zealand collective returns with their 4th studio album - titled as such.
In a world preoccupied with instant gratification and overnight success, LEISURE have been taking the scenic route. The five members - and mates - came togethder in 2015 on a spontaneous trip up New Zealand’s ragged west coast. At that stage, they’d independently spent years churning through the music machine’s tight jaws. Individually, the five are award winning songwriters, producers and creatives. Together, they resolved to carve out a new musical paradigm: cut the crap, enjoy the ride and above all, keep it LEISURE.
This ethos underpinned their critically acclaimed self-titled debut record, a hazy collection of funk-laced basslines and breathy vocals that make you want to crack open a cold one while floating down a river. Their follow-up album Twister chucked this ethos in the blender, juxtaposing their chilled spirit with lyrics that trace the anxieties plaguing modern life.
The third studio album 'Sunsetter' was a 12-track release and a culmination of their 2020/2021 EP’s ‘SIDE A’ and ‘SIDE B’. Now, 350+ million streams later, a collaboration with Goldlink, and sold-out dates throughout NZ, Australia, the UK, Europe and now the USA, they’re doing something right.
A colourful new season is ushered in with Leisurevision, encapsulated by the colour Green - symbolic of growth, renewal, and rebirth.
The album takes inspiration from various eras — from the smoothness of seventies Blue-eyed-Soul to the romantic energy of early eighties post-disco, locking in with mid-nineties hip-hop drum programming and glued down with what has become somewhat of a signature lush LEISURE guitar sound heard across their discography.
It’s this unique LEISURE-ly brand of soul-searching electro-funk and shoegaze that has charmed fans around the world. They’re going the distance at their own pace, in their own way and they invite you to join them in this top-down, riding the freeway into the sunset, playing your favourite song kind of feeling with 'Leisurevision'.
