Electric drone pop from North London.
“World-weary yet innocent, blissful dreampop” – Uncut
“Brilliantly atmospheric… a quiet, melancholy wonder” - The Quietus
“A pure and unashamed blast of drone-pop heaven” - Moonbuilding Magazine
“Like experiencing The Clientele’s ghostly pastoral elegies warped through the drone melodies of Stereolab" – PopLib
“Fascinating, bold and experimental drone-pop” – Louder Than War
“Music for a rainy Tuesday afternoon of the soul” – Pete Paphides
The Leaf Library are a north London band playing melodic dream-like music built on layers of chiming guitars, pulsing electronics, noise and looping drones. They have released four studio albums Daylight Versions (2015), About Minerals (2019), The World Is A Bell (2019) and After The Rain, Strange Seeds (2026) - Melody Tomb (2022), a collaborative LP with Japanese artist Teruyuki Kurihara, two compilations of rarities and collaborations - Library Music: Volume One (2022) and Library Music: Volume Two (2026), plus a four track EP for Castles In Space (The Long Dead King, 2024).
The band formed in the mid 2000s around singer Kate Gibson and ex-Saloon guitarist Matt Ashton and has settled into the core line up that includes drummer Lewis Young and bassist Gareth Jones.
On their studio albums the band have collaborated with musicians as diverse as Alasdair MacLean of The Clientele, singer Ed Dowie, noise group Far Rainbow, sound artist and songwriter Freda D'Souza, members of the Tom Jones Band and string collective Iskra Strings, and have provided music for a number of exhibitions, films and performances. Over the last few years they have released five Monument CDRs; an on-going series of experimental solo and side projects on their Objects Forever imprint (which also features releases by Michael Tanner, Melinda Bronstein and anrimeal, amongst others).
In their live shows the carefully constructed and occasionally delicate sound world of their albums is replaced by a sometimes noisier and more intense experience, helped by the addition of an ever-evolving collective of musicians including guitarist Mike Cranny (of fellow drone pop travellers Firestations) and keyboardist Irina Shtreis.
Associated Leaf Library bands include Beneather, Boa Resa and Molch (drummer Lewis Young), Mirrored Daughters (Lewis and guitarist Matt Ashton, plus Marlody and Mike Firestations), The Form Group (guitarist Matt), Sea Glass (guitarist Matt again, Melinda Bronstein and Mike Firestations again), The Nameless Book (guitarist SJ Nelson), Sun Drawing (Matt again), Wintergreen (bassist Gareth Jones), and Basic Design (Matt again).
