Adult Jazz

Leeds-based alternative/indie quartet Adult Jazz first came to light in 2014 with their debut album, Gist Is. Members Harry Burgess, Tim Slater, and Steven Wells all grew up in the same area of Guildford, Surrey before moving to Leeds for university, where Burgess and Slater trained as teachers. Wells joined the pair a year later, when they would form the early version of the group. Adult Jazz would complete their lineup with Tom Howe, whom the three existing bandmembers met through a mutual friend. The writing process for Gist Is took around four years, then they recorded it at a family friend's recording studio in Edinburgh. In 2014 Adult Jazz released their first single, "Am Gone/Springful," a two-track precursor to the album. Gist Is was released that summer on their own label, Spare Thought. The band followed it with tours of the U.K. and appearances at music festivals such as CMJ and Latitude, with their ambitious, offbeat indie pop making fans of the likes of Björk and David Byrne along the way. They accepted an invitation from the latter to perform at his Meltdown festival in 2015. Their sophomore outing, the seven-track Earrings Off!, arrived in the spring of 2016 via Tri Angle.

James Pearce
AllMusic.com