Band of the Month: Adult Leisure [February]

Our featured band this month is Bristol alt/indie/new wave four-piece Adult Leisure.

Adult Leisure are Neil Scott, David Woolford , James Laing, and Nathan Searle. Influenced as much by the gritty politics of contemporary life as the ‘big sound’ alternative 80’s & 90’s; the band present an enlightened view and refreshingly modern take on genre fluidity.

Of the name, guitarist Dave comments:

“Originally inspired by Bowie’s song Teenage Wildlife, We toyed with the idea of Adult Wildlife and eventually settled on Adult Leisure. We like it as it conjured up images of fun in the mundane; it created a sense of life’s pleasures being properly appreciated.”

Formed in 2020, ADULT LEISURE released a string of singles before unveiling their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘The Weekend Ritual’ in December of 2022, streamed over 60,000 times.  Their second EP ‘Present State of Joy And Grief’ released in November of 2023 was chosen by producer. Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, One Direction, Paloma Faith) for instore airplay worldwide.  

The band have supported The Family Rain, Afflecks Palace, China Bears, Human Interest and The Luka State. September 2024 saw the band play Sweden’s Live At Heart Festival.

Their latest single  ‘Kiss Me Like You Miss Her’ mixes unashamedly glossy production with socially aware lyrics that bounce across a call and response top line melody, creating a vision akin to Yar Act covering Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Singer Neil comments:

“Kiss Me like You Miss Her’, holds a lens firmly on the state of Britain, pre-election 2024. It’s easy to get blindsided and almost complacent with music that tackles social commentary. However, we’ve all had, or still have, ongoing experiences of the damage austerity has caused. We wanted our chance to express that anger. We saw a way to create a story drawn from personal and everyday experiences. Life still isn’t good, and our way of dealing with it is through music – this is our petulance and frustration in a song. Having to choose between eating a hot meal or putting £10 on the gas metre takes its toll. We’ve seen it up close in recent memory. It’s so important for these subjects to remain in conversation.”

Their new single ‘Dancing Don’t Feel Right‘ will be out on February 28th.

Adult Leisure are:

• Neil Scott (vocals)
• David Woolford (guitar, vocals)
• James Laing (bass)
• Nathan Searle (drums)

Follow Adult Leisure:

Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, Twitter, Youtube

FFO: Fat Dog, Simple Minds, Peter Gabriel, Yard Act, Deadletter, FGTH, The Police, Talking Heads

Upcoming Live Dates

22 Mar – Cornish Bank, Falmouth
7-9 Aug – Varanger Festivalen, Norway