The band released their album, Alone Aboard The Ark, in 2013 through Full Time Hobby. The album is being supported by an eleven date tour of the UK, commencing on April 12 at The Kazimier in Liverpool and ending on April 25 at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall. The new LP - recorded at Kinks frontman Ray Davies‘ Konk Studios - is the follow up to 2011’s lauded Into The Murky Water, which the band toured in ever distinctive fashion, including a date at the London Barbican backed by the 40-piece Heritage Orchestra.
Fittingly, Alone Aboard The Ark sees the band expanding their arcadian, Baroque pop sound with a more diverse array of sounds and inventive orchestration. Following a summer of rehearsals beside the River Ouse in Befordshire, The Leisure Society decamped to Konk Studios to begin recording the tracks that would become Alone Aboard The Ark. Having declared himself a fan of The Leisure Society, Kinks frontman Ray Davies (owner of Konk) originally sought out the band to help him arrange and record his new solo material, and also included the band in his curation of 2011’s Meltdown Festival on the South Bank.
The genesis of The Leisure Society spans back to the friendship made by Nick Hemming and Christian Hardy in their hometown of Burton on Trent. When the pair relocated to London they fell in with the Brighton-based Wilkommen Collective, and with Helen Whitaker, Mike Siddell and Sebastian Hankins, came to form The Leisure Society. The single 'The Last of The Melting Snow' from their debut LP The Sleeper was nonimated for a 2009 Ivor Novello (alongside heavyweights such as Elbow & The Last Shadow Puppets), and the band joined an incredibly select group when a year later, 'Save It For Someone Who Cares' was also nominated for an Ivor.
Lyrically, Alone Aboard The Ark is an album informed by a palette as eclectic as it's musical flesh. Album standout 'The Sober Scent of Paper' is a hair-raising, elegiac waltz informed somewhat unconsciously by the demise of Sylvia Plath: 'When I began writing‘ says Nick 'I didn’t know what it was going to be about. For some reason, the first line 'Chains dredge the great lake around you / Pull you along by the knots in your hair‘ made me think of her. I guess it’s quite a dark desolate image‘. Yet there's light to this shade, with 'Tearing The Arches Down' marrying a wryly observed narrative 'The boy with the bloodshot eyes / A legend in your lunchtime' to an ebullient chant.
Over the summer, Nick’s 8 hours a day Olympic TV habit manifested inself in 'Fight For Everyone‘, which whilst celebrating British success, also considers those who also 'had this spine-tingling roar of support, but could only ever be an also-ran'. The track also marks The Leisure Society’s first foray into synths, utilising as it does six different vintage synth lines, layered up by Helen and Christian.
Having recorded both The Sleeper and 2011's follow-up Into The Murky Water in home studios, the range of technology both old and new at the band's disposal at Konk proved to be the perfect foil for The Leisure Society's ambitious designs. Alone Aboard The Ark was recorded on a 2“ tape machine and a 1970s mixing desk, and the value of recording live, coupled with the band's minimal approach to arrangement, is borne out across the album. Nick Etwell’s (trumpeter to Mumford & Sons) brass lines permeate 'One Man and His Fug', whilst the electric guitar lines heard on 'The Last in A Long Line' were the product of Christian and Mike‘s two Gretches recorded playing at opposite ends of the studio. Even the piano part for 'We Go Together' underwent a nocturnal reinvention when Christian had 'a moment of inspiration, whilst deeply drunk at midnight listening to the playback'.
Ask the band what makes them most proud of Alone Aboard The Ark though, and the answer is likely to be 'a gang mentality'. Say Christian and Nick, 'There’s no question that this is 'the one' in terms of us five working together to create something. As a result of the camaraderie and everyone having their say, we’re all at our absolute peak on this album'.
Save It for Someone Who Cares
The Leisure Society Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And an audience in the house of God
Such strange times
Pull me from my knees, genuflect and leave
Braving the weather, evading the stares
Save it for someone who cares
City life
Jostled bones
Hang in dying air breathed a million times
Down through the marching of beggars and heirs
Save it for someone who cares
We are the cats in the flea bitten folds
We will collapse with the weight of it all
Should we attack
Or be caught unawares
Save it for someone who cares
We get by
Swilling with the taste of the now and then
As we type
All our problems we will relive again
Echoes of violence, and office affairs
Save it for someone who cares
The Leisure Society's "Save It for Someone Who Cares" is a melancholic and introspective song that explores the themes of religion, urban life, and the mundane. The opening lines, "Hunting spires, and an audience in the house of God, such strange times, pull me from my knees, genuflect and leave" suggests a loss of faith in religion, as the singer is pulling away from the religious practices that are meant to empower him or her. This is further highlighted as the singer asks to "save it for someone who cares", suggesting that he or she thinks that there is no value in religion and that it is a mere waste of time.
Moving to the second stanza, the song delves into the beauty and ugliness of city life. The lines "City life, in the glory of pink communal skies, jostled bones, hang in dying air breathed a million times" give us a vivid imagery of the bustling city life, where people are always on the move and often ignore the suffering of others. The singer once again questions the significance of all this, asking the people to "save it for someone who cares".
In the third and final stanza, the song takes a more metaphorical approach, comparing humans to "cats in the flea-bitten folds". The weight of the world, with all its problems and violence, is too much for the cats to bear. They are left with the choice to either attack the overwhelming issues or be caught unawares. Once again, the singer asks the people to "save it for someone who cares", calling into question the futility of all our worries and troubles.
Overall, "Save It for Someone Who Cares" is a song that speaks to the disillusionment of modern life and people's growing apathy towards religion, societal issues, and personal struggles.
Line by Line Meaning
Hunting spires
Searching for spiritual enlightenment
And an audience in the house of God
Seeking attention and validation through religion
Such strange times
A confusing and complicated era
Pull me from my knees, genuflect and leave
Distancing oneself from religion
Braving the weather, evading the stares
Facing challenges and judgment from society
Save it for someone who cares
Do not burden someone with your problems who does not truly care
City life
Living in an urban environment
In the glory of pink communal skies
Appreciating the beauty of the city
Jostled bones
The physical wear and tear of living in the city
Hang in dying air breathed a million times
Breathing in the polluted air of the city
Down through the marching of beggars and heirs
Navigating through different social classes in the city
We are the cats in the flea bitten folds
We are the ones struggling in difficult situations
We will collapse with the weight of it all
We will eventually give in to the stress and pressures of life
Should we attack
Should we fight back against our struggles
Or be caught unawares
Or should we be prepared for anything that comes our way
Save it for someone who cares
Do not burden someone with your problems who does not truly care
We get by
We are able to survive
Swilling with the taste of the now and then
Living in the moment while reminiscing about the past
As we type
As we share our thoughts through technology
All our problems we will relive again
Our problems will persist and continue to affect us
Echoes of violence, and office affairs
Reminders of the negative aspects of life, such as violence and drama in the workplace
Save it for someone who cares
Do not burden someone with your problems who does not truly care
Contributed by Ellie W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mark Wilson
just amazing, single version lifts it even higher. Just pure class
guin winchester
this is absolutely a work of art
PeaceboneGotFound
Reminds me so much of Stornoway, but more complex. I've been looking for a band with this kind of sound, and I finally found it!
Robert Bugalski
love love it love it!! Heard this song on Radio 2 yesterday and just can't stop playing it..
Amelie1777
INCREDIBLE!!!!!! the music is so amazing!
Richard Wyland
LOVE their sound...
brumwolf
One bunch of talented people,more power to them I say.
Tomas Roquentin
MAravillosa banda. GREAT BAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Jose Manuel MB
¡¡¡Genial!!!
quehartera
i love it! both the song and the vector video, its amazing