Adult Jazz was established in 2010 at the
University of Leeds. Members Tim Slater, Harry Burgess, and Steven Wells are all originally from
Guildford. In 2013, they released a 12" vinyl single; In 2014 the band released their debut full-length album titled
Gist Is on Spare Thought. The album had a positive critical reception, with David Peschek, writing in
The Quietus, positioning it "at the sharpest edge of the expression of queer experience in pop music" The record caught the ear of other artists: cellist Oliver Coates covered the album's opening song "Hum";
Bjork attended a 2014 show in Reykjavík, later writing about the experience for
Art in America magazine;
Shabazz Palaces remixed their single "Springful"; and the group were invited to play 2015's Meltdown festival at the Royal Festival Hall, curated by
David Byrne. In 2016, Adult Jazz released a mini-album titled
Earrings Off! on
Tri Angle. The record explored harsher digital textures and the critical reception was mixed; music review website Drowned In Sound called it a "brave, intriguing release". The lead single, "Earrings Off!", was remixed by Norwegian musician
Jenny Hval. Later that year, the band worked with
Okay Kaya on a double A-side single, featuring a cover of the
Curtis Mayfield song "
Keep On Pushing". Between 2018 and 2019, Burgess worked with the English electronic musician
Lil Data for the musical project Offer. In 2020, Adult Jazz contributed, with
Oneohtrix Point Never, to the song "Cut Me" from the American musician
Moses Sumney's album
Græ, which was placed at number 12 in Pitchfork's best songs of 2020. In 2024, the band returned with the single "Dusk Song", their first release in eight years, followed by two more singles, "Suffer One" and "Marquee", for an upcoming album. In April 2024, the band released their second full-length album
So Sorry So Slow. The Clash's Nick Roseblade noted the albums slower pace, but praised the lyricism and subversive melodies, writing that the group remains "a powerhouse of skewed pop." In a review for Bandcamp's "Album of the day" Ted Davis wrote "These songs swirl and jitter at random, hinting at a virtuosic collective consciousness. The unpredictability at the heart of the album elicits a warm, deja vu-like energy. It’s like the pleasant experience of a foggy teenage memory resurfacing out of the blue." ==Discography==