Lief - Imperfect

It's a smooth-jazz and soul mixture that might remind some of Sade, with the steady and pristine lead vocal over a bed of soft syncopation. The difference here is the willingness to pierce that veil of casual simplicity, and push beyond into a fusionist interlude using a distorted clavinet with an envelope filter.

It is risks like these that set the track apart, along with a set of harmonic changes over the verse that work with the complex backbeat to create and release tension with every few bars. It's a remarkable achievement: balancing the influences of modern jazz fusion, neo-soul, and indie rock, with equal parts pre-meditated nuance and personal expression.

Led by the songwriting team of vocalist Louise Victoria and drummer, Mark Whitlam, We Are Leif deftly span the balance of jazz sensibilities between groove and sound.