Whilst some albums seem tailor made for the times in which they were released, others have a timeless quality that exist outside our era. That’s certainly the case with NP York’s sophomore album, a ten track affair that sounds as if it could have dropped at any point in the last fifty years…or the coming fifty. Born from a period of personal trauma, What’s Next? is the sound of an artist asking some of life’s biggest existential questions and creating an album that’s vast and expansive, yet close and confidential, and forges a tangible bond between artist and audience in a way that music rarely does.

Like an updated version of Iggy Pop’s ‘Nightclubbing’, opening track ‘Walk On By’ positions NP York as a ghost moving through a nocturnal cityscape. His vocals are assured but also detached making ‘Walk On By’ is a song for everyone who has felt ostracised and removed from society. It makes the perfect gateway into the album and introduces themes that will echo throughout, most notably it has a dreamlike quality that perfectly captures that moment which exists in that magical space somewhere betwixt wake and sleep. It’s an overarching aesthetic which renders What’s Next? an old school album; whilst it is quite permissible to dip in and out of this album and enjoy the songs individually (indeed, several of these songs have been released as singles), it’s best consumed whole to fully appreciate its ebb and flow. The movement introduced in the opening track will continue to propel What’s Next? forwards, songs like ‘As Bold As A Heart’ having a perpetual locomotion that sweep the listener along.

This album was born from a difficult period in NP York’s life and as such it comes laden with a certain amount of emotional weight, and no matter in what guise the songs appear it is ever present. This album draws deep from the well of indie rock, yet it is hard to fit it into any genre classification and it is to NP York’s credit that What’s Next? sounds like no one else. However, think the soundscapes of classic Swans or the song sensibility of Pulp as loose points of reference, but if there’s one thing that connects these tracks then it is the dreamy sensation and the Novocaine buzz that cocoons the likes of ‘Lie!’, which in turn makes a nice foil for the lyrical depth. It all conspires to make What’s Next? an intriguing riddle, and one you’ll never quite unpick.

Who knows what the future holds for NP York, but on the strength of What’s Next?, it’s bound to be interesting.

• What’s Next? is released via Iceberg Music Group on 18th September 2026.

Track List:

1. Walk On By
2. As Bold As A Heart
3. Better Place
4. The trier
5. Lie!
6. Let’s Talk
7. One More Day
8. Pomp And Glory
9. Sugar
10. New Year’s Eve