Leisure

One Liner:  Chill funky grooves from a pack of Kiwis

Wikipedia Genre:  dance, synth-pop, indie pop, blue-eyed soul, alternative R&B, funk, nu-disco, nu-jazz

Home: Auckland, New Zealand

Poster Position: Second Quarter - Line 11
Weekend Two Only.
Saturday.

Thoughts:  I swear that I am not trying to find only bands from the southern Hemisphere, but here we are again.  This time, not Aussies, but Kiwis.  I actually had to make sure the Wikipedia article I am reading was about the same band I have been listening to, because the article calls them an electronic music project, where it sounds much more like nu-jazz type tunes with instruments.  Like a chilled out Jungle.  Not so much like an EDM thing at all.

The group is made up of six dudes who were already part of the Auckland music scene prior to joining forces.  One guy was in a psych-indie pop act called Cool Rainbows.  One was the drummer for a pop punk band called Goodnight Nurse that had a gold-certified album.  One was in a new wave band called Kids of 88.  Another was in an EDM group called Kidz in Space and became an in-demand producer.  They initially formed in 2015 after "a spontaneous holiday at a bach in Muriwai."  At first, I thought that was a typo, and the writer had intended to say "beach," but instead a "bach" is small, often modest holiday home or beach house in New Zealand, also sometimes called a crib.  For some time, the word was thought to have been a shortening of "bachelor pad," but it has also been linked to the Welsh word for small/little, which is bach.  Random aside, but kind of cool.  I need a bach, please.

Makes me think of these great little cabins at a place in Hunt, Texas called Casa Bonita.  When I was a kid, one of my best friend's family had one of the cabins, and while it was nothing special, the riverfront access, fun activities on the common property in between the bachs, and the great sense of community among the folks who would go stay there for a week or so - completely amazing.  From driving past there in recent years, it looks to have been changed and locked down so that it is not so publicly available and relaxed.  But it was a really neat spot back in the day.  [I wrote that last paragraph over a month ago, long before Casa Bonita was wiped from the face of the earth by the July 4th floods.  I've seen video of it since, and the cabins are truly just gone.  Obviously, losing some old buildings that bring me nostalgia is nothing compared to the loss of life and hurt for those Camp Mystic families.  Just awful stuff.  Anyway, back to the music!]

Five albums - 2018's Leisure, 2019's Twister, 2021's Sunsetter, 2023's Leisurevision, and 2025's upcoming release called Welcome to the Mood.

The biggest track is from the 2021 album.  "Slipping Away" has 103.5 million streams and a funky, lax groove.

Pretty cool vibe.  After meandering around in these tunes all day, still not clocking why people call them dance or synth-pop.  Definitely feels like funky soul and jazzy indie.  The other song with 100 million streams is from 2018's Leisure, their debut album.  "Got It Bad."  Just barely over 100 million.

Again, groovy, funky, swanky, action from a band of dudes playing real instruments.  Not getting the synth thing here either.  I guess there is like an organ playing clipped little notes in there, but not what I would call synth pop.  Another groove though.

Just for comparison's sake though, here is their most recent single, which will be part of the new disc.  "Sundown" with 2.1 million streams.

I wanna go hand out in the Lord of the Rings landscape with these bros in their sweet chunky sunglasses while we wait for Golum to try to come and steal our preciouses!  

This is more tasty stuff.  Not sure about the vibe of watching them in a sweaty field with the sun beating down on me as they unspool delicious grooves across the park, but the appeal of the chill funk here is undeniable to me.