| The Sleeper | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 30 March 2009 | |||
| Genre | Folk-pop | |||
| Length | 38:53 | |||
| Label | Willkommen | |||
| The Leisure Society chronology | ||||
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The Sleeper is the first studio album by English indie folk band The Leisure Society.
Their self-produced debut album, The Sleeper was initially released on 30 March 2009 on Willkommen Records.[1] It received lavish critical praise,[2] being named a Rough Trade album of 2009.[3]
The first single from the album, "The Last of the Melting Snow'", was released on 15 December 2008 and has received extensive radio play on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show,[4] Marc Riley's BBC 6 Music show[5] Lauren Laverne's 6 Music show[6] and Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie's Radio 2 show, where they were voted 'Record of the Week' by listeners with a record 90% of the vote.[7] Marc Riley also invited them to perform a live session for 6music on December 15 and Mark Radcliffe tipped the single as a candidate for a left field Christmas number one. Guy Garvey named the song his favourite of 2008 and has been a vocal supporter of The Leisure Society continually since then. "The Last of the Melting Snow" received a nomination in the Ivor Novello Awards 2009 for Best Song Musically/Lyrically, competing against Elbow and The Last Shadow Puppets. Hemming told The Times that he "spent New Year's Eve sitting on the floor with a bottle of vodka, writing 'The Last of the Melting Snow'" after breaking up with his girlfriend.[8]
The second single from The Sleeper is entitled "A Matter of Time" and was released on 16 March. The band were invited to perform live sessions on both Radcliffe & Maconie (where the song was once again voted 'Record of The Week' by listeners) and Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 shows.
After having signed to Full Time Hobby, the band re-released The Sleeper with a bonus EP containing 8 additional recordings, comprising unreleased demos, B-sides and new recordings, including a cover of "Cars" by Gary Numan and a new single version of "Save It For Someone Who Cares". A session for Dermot O'Leary was recorded on 14 September 2009.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Fighting Chance" | 3:32 |
| 2. | "The Sleeper" | 3:50 |
| 3. | "The Last of the Melting Snow" | 3:33 |
| 4. | "A Short Weekend Begins with Longing" | 3:17 |
| 5. | "We Were Wasted" | 2:55 |
| 6. | "Save It for Someone Who Cares" | 4:01 |
| 7. | "The Darkest Place I Know" | 3:49 |
| 8. | "Are We Happy?" | 2:54 |
| 9. | "Come to Your Senses" | 2:31 |
| 10. | "A Matter of Time" | 6:02 |
| 11. | "Love's Enormous Wings" | 2:31 |
References