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LEAP partner with CALM for new single, Messages
Listen to LEAP’s beautifully powerful new single, with the band raising money for an “amazing charity that gives support to people in mental distress”, CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
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“Whatever you’re going through, this is pure escapism”: Inside LEAP’s debut album Entropy
As rising rock’n’roll quartet LEAP gear up to drop their debut album Entropy this Friday, the band unpack what’s going on throughout its 11 tracks…
- Words:
- LEAP
- Photo:
- Liam Maxwell
As LEAP proudly state, they’re building quite the connection with fans in their few short years as a band. Now, that all looks set to come to a head with the release of their debut album Entropy on October 3, in which the specialists of “rock’n’roll therapy” tackle everything from mental health to mosh-pits. Here, they take us through the record, track-by-track…
1Over & Out
“As soon as we started working on this instrumental we knew we had to open the record on it. There’s something so inviting and expansive about that intro, even though it’s got this really tight drum beat on it. The verse came out in a oner and we were so excited – we thought we were gonna have one of those lighting in a bottle moments where a whole song gets written in 10 minutes… but then the chorus took weeks to get right. But it was worth it, and the first time we played it live on the Downfall tour in spring the chorus went off and we had so many fans asking about it after the shows. The video’s pretty random, but we were about 11 Jägers deep when we decided to film it at 1am at festival in Holland. The colours are pretty at least.”
2Play Dead
“Play Dead was the first song we finished for the album and we released it as the first single of the campaign. The reaction was insane – we got way more editorial support at Spotify than we’d ever had, multiple DJs at Radio 1 were spinning, a bunch of international radio in Europe… at one point we were lowkey kinda worried we’d peaked on single one (laughs). We made this really simple music video that ended up being a bit of a flagship piece for us, not just for fans but we had directors and creatives reaching out about it which we’ve never had, MTV were playing it – it’s mad. It’s quickly become a fan-favourite and we may or may not be opening the album tour with this one… who knows?”
3Exit Signs
“The gift that keeps on giving! We love this song so much, we’ve been closing the set with it since the day we wrote it and we’ve got new fans discovering us through Exit Signs every day, pretty much. We knew it was a fun one when we wrote it, but I don’t think we realised how special it was. Once we decided to include one track on the album from each of the first three EPs, there was never any doubt that Exit Signs would be on there. The fanbase has grown quickly, but there’s a solid core that have been with us for a few years now, so we wanted this album to represent our whole journey across all those first steps, and Exit Signs is a huge part of that.”
4Waste Your Love
“Waste Your Love is about our guitarist Baby Mason, aka the Elvin Prince, aka Keith Ledger using LEAP to get over a break-up. We were on tour at the time and there was something so magical about having the LEAP community around to help get him out of his head. That’s basically what LEAP has become for all of us, and for a lot of our fans it seems. Whatever you’re going through, whether it’s a break-up or the loss of someone special or just your mind playing its sadistic games, LEAP is pure escapism. A bit of respite, a bit of love and support, a sprinkle of mosh-pits and a fatty slice of rock’n’roll, and you’re sorted. We wanted to capture that in the video as well, so we invited some fans down to party with us at the end, and it was actually emotional AF. The energy in the room was just insane, people flew in from all over Europe just for 24 hours. The connection that people are building around this project is so powerful, and we still can’t really believe it.”
5Do Or Die
“The darkest of horses, Do Or Die barely made it onto the album and now it’s the focus track on release and maybe our favourite LEAP song ever. To be fair, once it fully came together we knew it was a single, but we had the riff for ages and it just sort of sat there whilst we focused on other tracks we were more excited about for the rest of the album. Thank the sweet rock’n’roll gods that we came back to it, ’cause we love it so much now. It’s about us and our friendship and this music hustle, and how this grind has felt like such a battle over the years. But it can be applied to anything, if you really want something then you have to go all in. ‘I’ll follow you blind, tell me how does it feel? / Won’t leave you lonely on the battlefield.’ Honestly cannot wait for everyone to hear this one and play it on tour.”
6I Was Never There
“This is an interesting one, because at one point we thought it was the lead single of the campaign. We were proper giggling during the writing process, and it felt nice to have a bit of fun with a slightly more upbeat, dancey instrumental. In the end, in classic LEAP fashion, the lyrics are all about Jacky’s manic episode where he got sectioned and was dating another patient, and shit got seriously derailed, so kinda dark I guess, but also not really. We tried to make it a celebration of that incredibly misguided ‘love’ story. Really interested to see how this one goes down live, it’s popping off in rehearsals!”
7Sinking Feeling
“Releasing Sinking Feeling was the most excited we’d ever been about a track, so it had to be the one to announce our debut album with. Based on the reception we got, it’s clear our gut was right. It smashed Play Dead’s reception which we were buzzing on, and also opened the door to the U.S. for us. Everyone started reaching out from America and we’ve now got our debut U.S. shows announced for March next year. It’s probably the closest we’ve ever come to a song that feels like it captures the energy of the live shows, which is always the aim. It’s an upbeat, dancey mosh-pit tune with honest, depresso lyrics, which is what LEAP is all about, basically. We’re all kinda broken in our own ways, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a celebration and a temporary pause on that sinking feeling that we all get sometimes, that unexplained sense of dread.”
8Messages
“Messages is the most personal song I've ever written. After my dad took his own life in 2021 I was completely broken and I used to loop old voicemails just to hear his voice, trying to piece together the last things he said like clues. I needed to create something positive out of the despair, and Messages is my attempt at that. It’s got an uplifting sense of euphoria to the sonics, which strangely makes me happy when we’re playing it, which is mental but I guess it kind of works. Or it does for me at least. Heccy our drummer also lost his cousin to suicide, and my dad was like his second dad, so it’s something that feels really close to our hearts as a band. We partnered up with CALM who are an amazing charity who give support to people in mental distress, and we gave away the only three test pressings of our debut album. We raised over £1.5k which we’re absolutely buzzing on. Otherwise the reaction we’ve had to the track so far has been unbelievable and we really hope it helps as many people as possible.”
9Energies
“Energies is the spark that started everything for us. When we started touring in Europe this was the track that brought people to the table, and like Exit Signs it was a no-brainer to include it on the debut album for the day oners. I think new fans are surprised when they see the reaction to this track at shows – it’s such a sing-along moment for us and it’s still some of my favourite LEAP lyrics ever. ‘What’s the point if you’re living in a conflict? With no pilot in the cockpit? There’s no rules in a mosh-pit.’ It’s definitely the track with the most lyric tattoos across the fanbase, which speaks for itself.”
10The Downfall
“The title-track of our third EP, this was another proper moment for us in terms of the reaction with fans and industry. We had the main guitar riff for years and we randomly came back to it, and our producer Tom Leach – big up TL! – just gave it this unbelievable anthemic feel and it’s another one that I’m super proud of lyrically. ‘Rock’n’roll therapy’ is a line from the song that we’ve used across some merch because it really captures the essence of what this LEAP journey has been for us. Again there’s loads of fan tattoos, too, probably second behind Energies. It’s also testament to the track that it works so well acoustic, and every time we do a little acoustic bit on socials we get so many requests for a full version. Those requests may or may not be getting answered on the deluxe album… just saying…”
11Eclipse
“The big finisher. Again, once this track came together, we knew exactly where it had to sit on the album. It’s another one about my pops and another tear-jerker of a writing process. ‘Hope you found it peaceful / Standing on the edge / Waiting on the world to / Take you somewhere else.’ ‘I just saw the ending / Where did it begin? / Seven in the morning / Shivers on my skin.’ Makes me genuinely emotional just typing these lyrics out... It’s the most graphic I’ve gone on the subject, and we built the instrumental to be this slow build in tension until you hit this moment of release, followed by pure chaos. We wanted a bit of a statement ending – the definition of Entropy is a ‘gradual descent into disorder’ and this track captures exactly that.”
Entropy is self-released on October 3. The band tour the UK between October 13 – 18.
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