Born in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Leisure Cruise pairs the synth-driven instrumentation of Dave Hodge (known for Broken Social Scene and Bran Van 3000) and vocalist Leah Siegel. As the story goes, Hodge saw Siegel passing by while sitting in a Brooklyn café after the storm and shared some songwriting with her. And now together, they have written a debut album, Leisure Cruise, set for release on May 6.

Last year, Leisure Cruise released their debut album, and now they set sail on a 12-date tour of east coast and west coast cities, starting in Boston today making their third stop DC9 in DC on Sunday, Feb. 22.

I’ve been listening to the 11 tracks listed on the Leisure Cruise SoundCloud, and these are some excellent songs.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/25351130″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]

The album opens with the soaring synths and lush vocals of “Double Digit Love” (a truly catchy song), progresses to the relaxed and hypnotic “Earthquake,” and the very new wave “Crime Tip.” The album gets more exciting as it progresses with sci-fi allusions to sex and travel.

According to the band’s press, the album is “something sounding like the future as imagined in the past-yet rooted in the now. Imagine the music of a John Hughes film if it had been written by Bowie, remixed by Johnny Jewel, and fronted by a female Prince, and you’ll start to get the idea.”

Watch a live performance of “Crime Tip” from BalconyTV:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1bA31WSYdI]

Tickets are available online and at the door.

Leisure Cruise
w/ Tigers Are Bad for Horses
DC9
Sunday, Feb. 22
Doors @8:30pm
$10
All ages