Leisure: 2024

For the members of groovy New Zealand music collective LEISURE — a supergroup composed of award-winning creatives, each busy and successful with their own endeavors — the project was intended to be just that: a pressure-free passion project, just some talented pals hanging out and having fun.

But fun is contagious, and fans caught on. What started as a few good friends jamming at a beach house on holiday has since turned into a main gig for these musicians, whose songs — which hit a sonic sweet spot, the perfect soundtrack for both Saturday night and Sunday morning — have collectively accrued hundreds of millions of streams as they’ve played to increasingly packed houses, from Brisbane to Bali.

Last September, the Auckland group released their fourth studio album, Leisurevision, and promptly popped over to our hemisphere to embark on their first US headline tour. Ahead of one of LEISURE's two sold-out shows at New York's Elsewhere in November, the bucket-hatted band — plus their giant plants, which had crossed the country along with them—popped into Studio A to play a few songs: "Back in Love" and "Still Rolling" from Leisurevision and "Slipping Away" found on 2021's Sunsetter. 

I also chatted with vocalist, keyboardist and producer Josh Fountain and bassist Tom Young about the new album, the color green, and the strong and lasting foundation of LEISURE: true friendship.

[Recorded: 11/16/23; Engineered by Jim O'Hara; produced by Meghan Offtermatt]