The Act: ENJOYABLE LISTENS

The Tune: 'A LAUGH AND A HALF'

The Format: DIGITAL SINGLE

The Release Date: DECEMBER 10TH 2021

The Digital Link: enjoyablelistens.bfan.link/a-laugh-and-a-half

The Truth: Enjoyable Listens formed in 2018 as a two piece consisting of Luke Duffett and Jimbo Savage, who lived in a derelict pub in Greenwich. They were both pursuing separate paths as songwriters, but in a novel attempt to make beer money (they lived across the road from a Wetherspoons, you see), they’d dress up and busk by the Cutty Sark. Luke wore a skeleton suit and a bowler hat, Jimbo modelled a long orange linen dress and 1970’s hustler daddy sunglasses. They were quite successful in the late summer months. That was really where it all started.

So far, so quirky. Fast forward three years, through five Enjoyable Listen singles, one EP, dozens of fruity live shows, one global pandemic and some Steve Lamacq lovings, these grandoise pop freaks snuck into the opening slot of a night of hectic poet-punk twosomes at Pandemicamonium! at The Dalston Victoria. The world held its breath and clutched its piss-filled milk bottles close to its heart. The world need not have worried: the Enjoyable Listens live set is a lithe, exuberant half hour blast of sharp cheekbones and cheeky melodies from the effervescent vocalist Luke and begrudgingly bouyant basslines from Jimbo. They out-spunked the punkas. By the end of the night, Tuesday September 28th, they had signed to fierce panda.

Not that it feels as if the night ever ends for Enjoyable Listens: barely ten weeks later, ie on December 10th, their lustfully DIY noise makes its debut on the panda with the 'A Laugh And A Half' single, a twinklingly arch glamour powerdrive. Between the loose-limbed loucheness of Jarvis Cocker and the pithy nuances of the Divine Comedy lurks a lyric book of gold. As Luke croon so mournfully: "And you, you make me want to sell my possessions / And you, you bought them off me for a very good price." It's pop art with a heart, a musical treat with a grand electronical beat.

Luke isn't just the crooner with the tuner either, being credited with laying down "Acoustic & Electric Guitar, Electric Piano, Drums, Latin Percussion, Synth Pad, Lead & Backing Vox" on 'A Laugh And A Half'. Or, in his own words...

“'A Laugh And A Half' is the most candid effort from Enjoyable Listens to date. A hypnotic baroque pop motif that dangles the keys to a 1967 Mercury Cougar in your face with one hand and shackles your leg to a lifetime supply of bitter pills to swallow with the other, this song was written as an advertisement for wearing your idiosyncrasies on your sleeve like a dirty badge of honour. It champions the mystic imagery of dream land and grounds you with the humility of family life in a sweet three minute inimitable package that will leave you hungry for answers you don’t want."

'A Laugh And A Half' is also taken from Enjoyable Listens' debut album which is being polished off even as we type and will be released in the spring of next year - the duo have just been confirmed for SXSW 2022 after playing SXSW 2021 (online) and being invited by SXSW live in the chatbox. Before then, Enjoyable Listens are bringing the live joys here, here and there:

20th Nov - Moth Club, Hackney
3rd Dec - MK11, Milton Keynes
8th Dec - Good Mixer, Camden
9th Dec - Winyl, Manningtree
10th Dec - The Cavendish Arms, Stockwell
11th Dec - The Source Collective, Carlisle
13th Dec - Aatma, Manchester
16th Dec - The Feathers, Worcester
13th Jan - The Loft, Portsmouth
20th Jan - Old George, Bethnal Green
28th Jan - The Kenton, Henley On Thames

“Enjoyable Listens is Luke Duffett, his phone, and several hogsheads of cabaret showmanship. He gyrates and sways like an animatronic Bryan Ferry, and croons his poetic balladry in the style of Lloyd Cole or Tony Hadley (and even, at times, early Vic Reeves). His songs are ostensibly simple fare to tug the hearts – and loins – of an audience raised on estate agent pop and John Hughes movies, but there’s an addictive passion to the performance, which takes place in the crowd as often as onstage, that reminds us of Jack Goldstein. We even end up singing along to a Bonnie Tyler cover, which is only a step away from pier-end schlock, but that step has been so elegantly taken you could easily miss how masterful Duffett’s performance is. That’s the total eclipse of the art.” - Nightshift Magazine

www.facebook.com/enjoyablelistens/
www.fiercepanda.co.uk