ALBUM REVIEW: Adult Leisure - The Things You Don’t Know Yet

After spending five spins around the sun producing ‘happy music for sad people’ the four-piece outfit Adult Leisure are bursting back onto the scene with their jazz-tinged, nostalgia-ridden debut project, ‘The Things You Don’t Know Yet’.

The Bristol alt-rockers are serving up a ten-track run of jangly gems on a well-polished silver plate, garnished with effortlessly cool collaborations with saxophonist John Waugh. It’s an album that oozes with 80s pop influences on standout tracks like ‘The Rules’ - layered with staccato riffs, twinkling piano, and lyrics plucked from a soundtrack to a coming of age film, it’s a tug-on-the-heartstrings kind of tune that shines a spotlight on Neil Scott’s tender vocal side.

Opening tracks ‘Hold Me Close (Before You Go)’ and ‘Boy Grows Old’ truly satisfy the craving for twangy dynamics and infectious melodies. The album’s presence is cemented by Nathan Searle’s flawless impressions on the drums, providing a beating heart to each track that fulfils classic Indie Rock arbiters, with a touch of heartfelt flair. 

‘The Things You Don’t Know Yet’ disguises childhood nostalgia and yearning for better days in a multicoloured, shimmering outfit, propelled by tunes like ‘Kids Like Us’. There’s an instrumental similarity to the likes of The 1975 sitting on the surface of the vocal work and spanky stratocaster sound that goes down an absolute treat.

Adult Leisure’s grittier side emerges from the shadows on ‘Borderline’ and ‘Dancing Don’t Feel Right’ yet maintains a playful perkiness that you just can’t attribute to anyone else. The album boasts a string of songs that feel all-too familiar; lived experiences, and collective desire for youthfulness, backed by the luxury of hindsight.

As a final goodbye to the album, ‘The River’ places a bookmark in brighter chapters to highlight a refreshing acoustic ballad. A set of soaring strings close out a well-rounded, musically mature project that showcases the best of Adult Leisure’s shimmering discography - an emotional core encased within toe-tapping rhythms and serendipitous melodies.