‘Catch Up, Isobel’ is the second single to be taken from the new album by The Leaf Library – ‘After The Rain, Strange Seeds’ – which is due out on 20 March via Fika Recordings. The track sees the band reconnecting with their jangly guitar roots, after a few years of trying to distance themselves from the indie pop tag. The band found a rich new seam of melodic guitar music whilst working on the new record, including bands they’d missed the first time around (The Chills, The Go-Betweens, The Clean) and new music from the current wave of lo-fi dream pop bands (Cindy, Reds Pinks and Purples, Jetstream Pony, Massage). The lyrics, a message to someone who is struggling (“isolated in a crowded room” as the band put it) were co-written by long-time collaborator Melinda Bronstein.
The band head out on the road in March and play in Brighton on 2nd April at The Rose Hill with support at this concert coming from Broadcast-do-space rock trio Minor Dents. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased HERE.
The Leaf Library’s most immediate and melodic work to date, ‘After The Rain, Strange Seeds’ is a luminous collection of pastoral indie pop, drawing inspiration from suburban isolation, unreliable memories and the surreality of the weather. Recorded across multiple studios between April 2022 and August 2023, the album sees The Leaf Library challenging themselves with more traditional songwriting and more structured compositions (more chords and more choruses!) rather than just relying on sonics or textures. The sound of the album is defined by mixer John McEntire, whose work with Stereolab and Yo La Tengo (as well as a member of Tortoise and The Sea And Cake) have been major inspirations to the band.
As on past albums the band – founded by singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton in the mid 2000s, and now completed by drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones – have involved their extended musical family, including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations), a member of the Leaf Library live band. The album also sees the return of James Underwood’s Iskra Strings, a quartet that features on four tracks, with sumptuous arrangements by Daniel Fordham, as well as regular contributor Melinda Bronstein on backing vocals and Will Twynham (Dimorphodons) on harpsichord.
The result is The Leaf Library’s most accomplished and affecting work, John McEntire’s mix bringing a bold clarity to the band’s meticulous arrangements – closer to how they sound live than anything they’ve done before, and a culmination of where they’ve been heading over the years. With ‘After The Rain, Strange Seeds’ they have created an album that is bright and transcendent yet blissfully intimate.
