Studio Electrophonique, the solo project of singer-songwriter James Leesley, is one of the most original musicaloutfits to emerge from Sheffield's current independent scene. Taking the name 'Studio Electrophonique' froman old analogue recording studio in Sheffield, Leesley has already released two celebrated EPs under thismoniker. He will release later this year his eponymous debut album on Paris-based label Valley of Eyes Records.It is produced by Simon Tong (The Verve, The Good, The Bad and The Queen and The Magnetic North). James Leesley grew up in Handsworth, Sheffield where week-day evenings were spent kicking a football aroundgrassy urban edgelands. At the weekends, the social clubs with their glitter balls, comedians, cockle sellers andsequin-suited cabaret singers brought a touch of glamour to this hilltop suburb on the fringe of an industrialnorthern city. The stage was not some far-off place. Dreams could be made and broken under bright lights and bythe brusk tones of a bingo caller. The classic songs, slap back echo and house organ sounds of the social club scene are in Leesley’s blood. His workdraws inspiration from the heartfelt melodies of songsmiths like Carole King and Burt Bacharach with the smokeytenderness of vocalists such as Dusty Springfield and Elvis. Add to that his enthusiasm for American literature andthe surrealism of 60s French cinema. After stumbling across an old 4-track tape machine at a local Bring and Buy, Leesley used it to distill theseinfluences into something that is spare in its sound but full in its intention and emotion. In 2019 he releasedBuxton Palace Hotel on Violette Records, an EP of six odes to the mystery of modern romance, followed in 2022by the Happier Things EP. Leesley found a fan in Richard Hawley who he joined on a tour of the UK and Irelandand, under the Studio Electrophonique name, he played at the prestigious End of the Road and Green Man Festivals.He was also invited by French superstar Etienne Daho to support him at the legendary Olympia in Paris. Leesleyreceived airplay on BBC Radio 6 Music (Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe, Mark Radcliffe, Stuart Maconie & Tom Robinson),BBC Radio 3 (Unclassified) and Soho Radio (Pete Paphides). After a chance meeting with Simon Tong, the pair bonded over a love of The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, BarryHines’ books, Jake Thackray, Blackpool's North Pier, and late night attic-darts. At Tong’s home studio in South London they added an assortment of vintage guitars and Casio keyboards (Pipe Organ mode) to fragments of lyrics Leesley had scribbled on the back of betting slips and bus tickets. The result is an 11-track album that finds big feelings in small details. Loneliness, beauty, longing and loss all linger in the everyday occurrences: the moments of miscommunication over tea and eggs, the neatly folded pyjamas left by a long-gone lover, the raindrops on the top deck window of a No. 52 bus, the rain-sodden faded glamour of acheap seaside getaway. Captured on a Tascam reel to reel, Leesley’s mesmerising debut promises to whisk anylistener away to a warm, intimate and day-dreamy place
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