Leisure Welcome to the Mood

For their fifth studio album, 'Welcome to the Mood', Auckland's genre-defying sextet Leisure refines their soulful, slow-burning ethos into a radiant new chapter - one rooted in togetherness, creative freedom, and the lived experience of a band evolving with authentic purpose. They also embraced a more organic, live-recording approach on 'Welcome to the Mood'. The group explains, "Off the back of touring the last album, we had played more shows than ever and wanted to bring more of the live element into the process, so we didn't use drum breaks and loops as much as previous records and tracked live." They continued expanding their sound by bringing in specialist musicians - string sections, brass, pianos, and backing vocalists - pushing the sonic possibilities beyond their individual skill sets. Yet at it's core, the album remains deeply personal. Written in remote hideaways, the songs carry the tranquility of escape while capturing a newfound confidence in emotional vulnerability. Thematically, 'Welcome to the Mood' is a rich sonic auditory tapestry woven with threads of authenticity, humanity, and creative celebration. Lyrically, the album explores universal experiences - love, loss, connection, hope, and purpose -drawn from the everyday yet rendered in Leisure's distinct palette of lush tones and laid-back groove. Tracks are anchored in realness but elevated by a sonic landscape that feels simultaneously nostalgic and futuristic, mirroring the ethos of Frank Lloyd Wright, whose Taliesin West provided literal and symbolic inspiration during the album's visual journey.