Leader – Leader

Leader has always been the master of walking a very well planned musical line. It is a line that seems to be drawn carefully along the periphery of a number of genres but manages to avoid the clichés of committing too firmly to any one of them. They employ the accessibility of pop but can throw in enough rock urgency when it is called for and they exude indie cool without the dictates of the fickle fashions that often goes with the territory.

And it is this ability to take the best that such musical waters have to offer without getting too immersed in any one of them is the real joy of their music. The title track that kicks off the e.p. is a spiralling, shimmering work of twisting dynamic and glistening riffs but for me the defining moment of the record comes with Chasing You. Textured guitar work seems to be built up into wonderfully complex but utterly satisfying layers and the pulse and beat of the rhythm section then drives relentlessly through the centre of it. It’s a song that somehow combines a “less is more” front of house delivery and a “more is more” backbeat drive. A great trick if you can do it. And they can. Without even breaking a sweat.

Circles is the most direct track to be found here and Left Outside’s anthemic status and effortlessly infectious hooks make it a great candidate for a hit single, visions of the band encoring with this as the sun sets behind them on a festival stage just park in the imagination as you listen.

To be fair it is a strong set of songs, all brimming with commercial potential and the way that the bands career trajectory is going, a lot of people are going to get to hear them very soon.