‘Leap Day‘ is the debut solo single from Marmalakes singer & guitarist Chase Weinacht and his first release with Balloon Machine favourites Keeled Scales. Written in 2015 about the events of a leap day seven years previous, the weightless indie folk of ‘Leap Day’ is the type of song you’d want in your ears whilst freely strolling down a sunlit path. It’s the small embellishments that make it whole, the fidgety synth on the chorus, the ‘ba ba ba’ of the backing vocal.
Written about the realisation that a lover’s world doesn’t align with your own, ‘Leap Day’ deviates into darkness when Weinacht sings “I am still in love with that woman / why does that make me feel so lost?”, the song structure collapsing around him. Weinacht reassembles the pieces quickly enough though and while this realisation may have devastated him initially, he’s content and glad of the experience seven years down the line. “I think I might go for a swim / I hope it’s cold out / I hope it’s empty” he resolves.