The Leaf Library - After The Rain, Strange Seeds

London quartet The Leaf Library return with their bold new album After The Rain, Strange Seeds, on yellow vinyl, released 20th March, via Fika

A luminous collection of pastoral indiepop, drawing inspiration from suburban isolation, unreliable memories and the surreality of the weather. Their most immediate and melodic work to date, the richly evocative songs brim with chiming guitars, buzzing organs and warm, dulcet strings, evoking Yo La Tengo’s more contemplative moments, The Clientele’s autumnal jangle pop and early Stereolab’s motorik melodicism. 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/The Sea And Cake) have been major inspirations to the band. 

The album explores themes of memory and place, albeit through an abstract haze – returning again and again to specific moments frozen in time: midsummer bright hot days in the Chilterns (“Sun In My Room”), meteorology and the strange movement of the weather (“Colour Chant”), red kites circling over suburban motorways (“Some Circling”), and the uncanny feeling of dusk and nighttime creatures on “The Reader’s Lamp” (titled by celebrated film director Peter Strickland). The lyrics are vivid yet elliptical, strung with abstract ideas and imagery, conjuring a gently unsettling, though never unwelcoming atmosphere. Not quite trusting your own recollection of things, while marvelling at the oddness of the natural world, the album’s title a good summation of the mix of strangeness and hope contained within. 

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) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis, both members of the Leaf Library live band. The album also sees the return of James Underwood’s Iskra Strings, a quartet that features on 4 tracks, with sumptuous arrangements by Daniel Fordham, as well as regular contributor Melinda Bronstein on vocals and Will Twynham (Dimorphodons) on harpsichord. They also welcomed Paddy Milner (on Hammond organ) and Scott McKeon (guitar) – both current members of Tom Jones’ band – for a startlingly delicate rolling crescendo to closing track “There Was Always A Golden Age”. 

After The Rain, Strange Seeds is their 4th studio album. 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. 

Press Quotes: 
“World-weary yet innocent, blissful dreampop” – Uncut 
“A sensory deprivation tank of experimental sometimes-pop” – Concrete Islands 
“Like experiencing The Clientele’s ghostly pastoral elegies warped through the drone melodies of Stereolab" – PopLib 
"A melancholy wonder" – The Guardian 
"Fascinating, bold and experimental drone-pop" – Louder Than War 
“Music for a rainy Tuesday afternoon of the soul” – Pete Paphides

Tracklist:

A1) Colour Chant
A2) Still & Moving
A3) The Reader’s Lamp
A4) Sun In My Room
A5) Carry A River In Your Mouth
B1) Catch Up, Isobel
B2) A Ship In The Sky
B3) Some Circling
B4) There Was Always A Golden Age

Format: yellow vinyl LP
Label: Fika
Catalogue Number: FIKA114LP
Release Date: 20th March
Genre: Indie
Condition: New / Pre-order
Barcode: 5057998866793

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