Solstice shifts, winds of change & Leisure

The liege of Leisure — Jon Jurow; press photo courtesy of the artist.

The mechanics of the ever changing solstice spell out many things for our lives. In some ways they are the all but invisible cogs behind the curtains that are the harbingers of the shifts that are beyond are view and even imagination. We witness the changing of the weather cycles, the waves of precipitation, the storms the seemingly arrive like a roar from the heavens, social adaptations and adjustments, itineraries are modified, civic trends emerge and depart and we experience the unexpected outside the scope of radars and other systems and schools of forecasts. Our stories too are always entering into new chapters, the rhythmic drudgery of work cycles, the developing parallel narratives at work with our loved ones, families, friends, the painstaking agonies, the momentous peaks of ecstasy and the turbulent tides that shake our worlds periodically. The earth and social sciences continue to turn in states of perpetual transformation, just as others and ourselves instinctively embark upon these ever winding boulevards and isolated, all but abandoned, interstates.

In the grand tradition of these seismic solstice shifts is the return of Leisure with the haunting and hypnotic “Seasons”. We didn't mean to wait till the end to finally release this material, bandleader Jon Jurow explains, but now more than ever we feel and hope these songs can bring a sense of comfort, escape and inspiration to those who hear it. The then NYC-based pop group had been developing an album under the working title Hand In Fear after the release of Gone Again back in 2014 but was shelved as the world became consumed in chaos and instability. “Seasons” is the first listen from these sessions, recorded with Gryphon Graham, Leif Anders, and Eric Cardona to create a sound submerged in the chrysalis of creating a sound that gracefully sparkles like an embellished ornament of shimmering lead crystal.

From seasons in hell, battling the pandemic, addiction, the rise of tribalism and traveling down life’s rocky roads, Jurow shares a kind, cold and cool reminder of the these inherent cycles. From leaving NYC for the southern extents of Texas, to currently residing in Richmond, VA — Jon shares journeys from the subterranean immaculate cisterns and sewers of the abyss that gazes up at the sunlight through the iron grates of a utility street cover. “Seasons” shudders through the neon drain streams of the underground, Jon’s solemn song echoing through the corridors with the art school class elegance reminiscent of the past’s post-punk dodgers. Anders and Graham help concoct a convection system that simulates the sweet and sullen skies that saturate our worlds, allowing in bursts of beaming light from the sun, sailed toward celestial stratospheres supplied by Cardona's spirit soaring saxophone. "Seasons" is a reminder that all things pass, nothing is totally permanent, nothing is static, the temporal is ongoing and that we are constantly experience renewal from both within and all around us.

Jon Jurow shared some candid reflections on healing, grief, the creative process and more:

I’ll be honest though I’m in a much better place now, during the time of this recording & writing of this material I was not.

I was grasping for anything at all to hold onto.

I was in NYC, a city of 19 million people, a city where anything feels possible, I was working in clubs, in nightlife, so I was surrounded by people every night, I had a lot of acquaintances and even some very close friends, yet being there I couldn’t help but still feeling terribly alone.

I was in the midst of a pretty terrible active addiction still, I was functional, I had many jobs, I had an apartment, but I always needed more just to maintain.

I was searching for something, while trying to mask the pain of a series of deaths of those close to me.

Substances will do that, but it’s always only temporary.

When you come down all the pain returns.

I wanted to feel something and at the same time feel nothing at all. I’m clean now.

I’ll be honest, I don’t even know if I ever felt like I’m a musician, a writer, they’re things I do daily because I have to, I’ve tried to quit many times, it didn’t work [laughs].

Leisure in session; press photo courtesy of Jon Jurow.

I piece things together, I hear songs, I hear melodies in my head and try and make sense of them, to bring them to life, but I don’t know if it’s in the way most people would approach things. There’s a lot of trial and error. I wait for things to strike, something emotional, a tonality, I sit with it, live with it, distill it down, adding or taking away parts, looking for the negative space.

I was trying to tell myself to hold on, to wait, it’s all always cyclical. I’m glad I did. I’m glad I can offer up something to the world.

I’m glad this song & this material is finally seeing the light. To be on the other side.

Leisure’s “Seasons” is available now everywhere.