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'.
The Last of the Melting Snow
The Leisure Society Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For the parting shot
For the epilogue
For the moment when it stops
And the days fade away
In no doubt
As I leave this town
For I haven’t got the room
In my head
For these things
And America
Seems an awful long way to go
As we hide ourselves
In the last of the melting snow
So we find
In the fading light
Of the wintertime
That there’s nothing left to try
All is best
Left unsaid
And America
Seems an awful long way to go
As we hide ourselves
In the last of the melting snow
In the last of the melting snow
In the last of the melting snow
The Leisure Society's song "The Last of the Melting Snow" starts off with a sense of anticipation for the end of something. The singer is waiting for closure, for the final word, for the end of a chapter. As the days fade away, the singer is set on leaving this town- perhaps leaving this chapter of their life. The lyrics convey a sense of detachment from the past, a sense of finality to the singer's time here. There's no room in the singer's head for these things anymore, and so they are ready to move on.
The song then transitions into the fading light of wintertime, where the sense of finality and detachment is reinforced. It seems that there is nothing left to try, and all is best left unsaid. Maybe the singer has made peace with their past or has resigned to move on without any closure. The last two lines emphasize the sense of finality by juxtaposing it with a seasonal metaphor of melting snow. They are hiding themselves in the last of the melting snow as if they are ready to shed their previous life and move onto something new.
Overall, "The Last of the Melting Snow" is a reflective song that highlights the need for closure and detachment sometimes to move on. The song's melancholic tone is supported by its gentle melody and relaxing rhythm, making it an excellent song to listen to while pondering life.
Line by Line Meaning
Wait all year
Anticipating the final moment with eagerness and anxiousness.
For the parting shot
The final remark or action indicating the end of something.
For the epilogue
The conclusion or ending of a story or event, often providing closure.
For the moment when it stops
The instant when everything comes to a sudden end or conclusion.
And the days fade away
The gradual dimming of something, often resulting in its disappearance or loss.
In no doubt
Without a shadow of a doubt or hesitation.
As I leave this town
Leaving the current situation or place behind to seek new experiences or opportunities.
I will not return
The decision not to come back to the current situation or place.
For I haven’t got the room
The lack of capacity or space to accommodate something.
In my head
Mentally, in one's thoughts or consciousness.
For these things
For the experiences or memories associated with the current situation or place.
And America
A metaphorical representation of a distant place, often connected with new experiences or opportunities.
Seems an awful long way to go
A figurative distance from the current situation or place, with potential challenges or obstacles along the way.
As we hide ourselves
The willful concealment of oneself, often due to fear or uncertainty.
In the last of the melting snow
The final moments of a fleeting or vanishing experience, often associated with passing time.
So we find
A discovery or realization that comes with time, experience or reflection.
In the fading light
The slow disappearance or dimming of something, often leading to an uncertain conclusion.
Of the wintertime
The season of cold and darkness, often symbolizing the end of something.
That there’s nothing left to try
The finality or conclusion of something, often leading to a lack of options or choices.
All is best
The acceptance of the current situation or state of being, often leading to a sense of peace or resolution.
Left unsaid
The decisions or feelings that are not expressed or shared with others.
In the last of the melting snow
The final moments of a fleeting or vanishing experience, often associated with passing time.
In the last of the melting snow
The final moments of a fleeting or vanishing experience, often associated with passing time.
In the last of the melting snow
The final moments of a fleeting or vanishing experience, often associated with passing time.
Contributed by Samuel P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
jean-marie piaget
Just a quick reminder that this song might be one of the most beautiful piece of music ever recorded
Alison Shenton
These guys are all AMAZING musicians, beautiful 🌹🌹 beautiful voices, never heard anything quite like them, thank you leisure society for making my day life A 100 times better,
Peter Ashby-Saracen
I first heard this song in June 2009 and hear I am listening to it again for the hundredth time here in 2021,and every time I listen, it reduces me to tears. I can't explain the beauty and pain and elsewhere of this song. Those who've said likewise will understand. And maybe it shouldn't be more widely known because that way we can keep it to ourselves.
WafflebirdInc
I have just discovered this song on Dermot o Leary's Saturday Sessions album and I can't stop listening to it, it's beautiful.
ludo281160
I heard this song on the radio at work sometimes, and now I have found it thanks to you! I find it so incredibly good as it is so charming real with such good harmonies on the rhythm of the English Walz...Great!
caferive
What a great song, the LS really are a unique sounding band, lovely melody, smart lyric, beautiful performance, love them.......
Chris Bingham
The album is coming out very soon... can't wait to hear it. I have heard samples of the songs & they sound good...
Samantha King
Lyrical, haunting and moving, great that they really consider all entries and not just the obvious
andy james
Love the fleet foxes, and always liked the lilac time. this song is definitely in that category.
Kie77
I just heard this on BBC radio 2 and instantly loved it. I'll definitely get the album.