Hailing from Bristol, Adult Leisure are an indie band formed in 2020. The four piece consists of lead singer Neil Scott, guitarist David Woolford, bassist James Laing and drummer Nathan Searle. They released their debut EP The Weekend Ritual in 2022, which led to acclaim from BBC Radio and other media outlets. Since then, the band has gone on several tours across the UK, including as support for The Family Rain and The Luka State. On November 15th 2024 the band released their latest single ‘Kiss Me Like You Miss Her’.
The track opens with a short instrumental introduction which includes a unique combination of guitar riffs and drums that immediately makes the song stand out. The track was mixed by Ollie Searle and mastered by John Webber, who also previously worked with great artists such as David Bowie and Duran Duran. You can hear from the first note onwards the skills used in this track; it gets the listener hooked right from the start. The vocals and lyrics add to that sentiment. Scott’s voice is a very British one, deep and raspy, capturing the importance of the track through his emotive singing. The song talks about the state of Britain and the issues many British people have had to deal with. In the first verse, for example, the band talks about “find[ing] danger in the cold” and not being able to “pay for the privilege”. As the band stated, “having to choose between eating a hot meal or putting £10 on the gas meter takes its toll”. Right from this first verse, the band cleverly describes the problems Britons find themselves having to struggle through.
The chorus is louder, more explosive, than the verses, and wonders if the people will regret the choices they made in the future – but really, did they have a choice? As stated at the end of both the first and second verse, “it’s the state at play”. It is the horrifying political atmosphere that forces people to make these decisions; to have to choose between food and warmth, amongst other things. In the second verse the band also mentions how “if this is living, then I choose death”, emphasizing how tough this life can be. The second verse is followed by another chorus and then an instrumental bridge, which features no lyrics but does include several layers of vocalizing. These backing vocals can also be heard throughout the rest of the track, but they really stand out in this part of the song. One can only envision how amazing this specific part will be live – no lyrics, just angry shouts. The song ends with one final repetition of the chorus before fading out.
Adult Leisure does not have a huge discography yet, with only two EPs to their name so far, but this song and their previous singles only predict that their debut album will be a great one. The clever lyrics that display the cruel reality of living in these times will surely hit hard for many people, and it’s important for messages like Adult Leisure’s to be heard – and of course, the hard-hitting instrumentals must be heard too!
Written by: Mandy Huibregtsen
Edited by: Noah F.
