Singer and songwriter Mads Kristensen started out early recording songs and gathering enough people to form a band with the purpose of making albums, that would stand the test of time, being a great fan of the classic albums such as ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie and ‘Unknown Pleasures’ by Joy Divison. In the autumn of 2009, The Black Leaves were seeded. In the early stages the band had some line up changes, but now it’s a steady group of well playing young musicians playing rock as we knew it in the 70’s and 90’s.The idea behind our album was to put the words and feelings in focus and not write music just for the joy of playing our instruments. Instead we wanted to do it with a relentless drive to make it with a passion and heart, which we thought were lacking in the last couple of years in the mainstream music.Our lyrics can either paint a picture of what’s to come before the storm, or they can be very direct and personal. Many of the songs has more than one message as well. We have fans from the age of 10 to the age of 70. We consider each of our albums as a book of thoughts and feelings appearing in different motions. The 12 songs on this album is a tour de force through landscapes of sound. Each of the songs has a distinctive sound. It's an album that gathers strength from its diversity. We’re not afraid of using exotic instruments like the clarinet, the didgeridoo and the charango. It all adds a little something to the feeling of the songs. There are beautiful ballads of loneliness and rockers filled with anger either in the choice of chords or lyrics. ‘The Spirit of Life’ was recorded in a bunker from the Second World War placed in the outskirts of Aarhus, the second largest city in Denmark, where we all live. We recorded the whole thing ourselves on our own equipment. All of our albums were produced and mixed by our drummer, Jon Brændsgaard Toft. It took about a year making the songs for the album and recording them. Some songs were jammed a lot and even played live before being put down on tape, while others were written in the studio. It has been a very fun experience.Now, that we have recorded 3 albums, that nobody has heard, we decided to spend the next year promoting the music. We have played a few but essential concerts and we have more planned in the future. When we arrange concerts, we get two or three other bands playing the gig as well. That means more people attending the show, and more bands to pay the fee for renting the venue. We have also played a few warm up gigs, where we brought half the audience. In other words: The audience is out there. Now we need to tell them about us.