As member of The Travelling Band, Jo Dudderidge helped take a decidedly British brand of Americana around the world and that band left a tantalising trail of vinyl in their wake. An artist with a prolific pen, it looks as if his latest project, Later Youth, will take him to similar destinations. A solo career that was derailed because of the pandemic, Jo is very much back in the saddle and ready to take on the world with Later Youth’s debut album Living History. Worldly, but based in English musical tradition, this is an album that sparkles with panache and paints its sound from a wide palette to serve up eleven tracks full of the good stuff.

What really hit me about jaunty opening track ‘Arcane Love’ was its unifying quality, it’s something intangible, but you’ll know it when you hear it. Outside of Living History the world is characterised by division and unrest, but inside these grooves unity reigns. It’s a musical balm sent to soothe our troubled times and wraps the listener up in a lovely warm Novocaine buzz. ‘Arcane Love’ employs one of the oldest tricks in the book, but rarely has it been done with this sparkle; a tale of lost/unrequited love is coupled to a buoyant beat to create a song that shouldn’t be so god-damn catchy…but it is. However, like any kind of musician Jo understands that there’s more to an album than simply pulling a rabbit from a hat and as such this is a record that’s always shifting gears. It’s an album that never stays in one place for too long and as such it never becomes staid; after the jaunty ‘Nuclear Love’ Later Youth hit us with a perfect piece of ‘70s pop in the shape of ‘Hotel Venezuela’ (thing Slade/Sweet). These sonic shifts make Living History an album that’s easy to dip in and out and enjoy each song individually (indeed, any of these eleven cuts would make a single with chart-topping potential), yet it’s also an album that flows exceptionally well and is probably best consumed whole to fully appreciate its push and pull.

The overall aesthetic of this album is quintessentially English; there’s the music hall, vaudeville tradition of ‘The Lurker’ (which brings to my mind images from Steptoe And Son Ride Again), there’s the swirling psychedelia on ‘Make It Right’ that recalls latter day Beatles, whilst the whimsical ‘Statuesque’ comes wrapped in autumnal hues of conker brown, rustic red and burnt yellow. But there’s always those shifting sands and the following ‘The Wave’ finds us stepping into bright sunshine (and believe me, you’ll need a pair of Ray-Bans).

The floral tributes that grace the cover of this release give a funereal feel, mourning and death, but the sound contained within suggests that this is just the birth of something very special.

• Living History is released via Sideways Saloon Recording Company and is available now.
• Official Website | Instagram | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. Arcane Love
2. Nuclear Love
3. Hotel Venezuela
4. Enabler
5. The Lurker
6. Make It Right
7. Statuesque
8. Hollow
9. The Wave
10. On The Missing (featuring Lissie)
11. The Ballad Of Charlie