Serious Child, aka Alan Young, is pleased to announce the release of his fourth album ‘What Lies Beneath’ for 7th November 2025.
Hailing from an old wood in West Sussex, Young draws from a wide range of influences to explore the world around us with a poet’s ear for emotion and a comedian’s eye for everyday detail.
For the new record, Young has drawn from a wide range of sources of inspiration- from Tony Harrison’s sonnet “Book Ends”, to Rob McFarlane’s brilliant book “Underland” and Georgian traditional lullaby “Iavnana”. The album sees him joined by classical composer and violinist, David Grubb, bass clarinettist, Anna Perry, vocalist and touring partner My Girl The River, and long-time collaborator and producer Chris Pepper.
‘What Lies Beneath’ is a collection of musical stories about what’s underneath the surface of our everyday lives, from a woman quietly riding the bus all day to keep warm, to the prickle of fear exploring an ancient burial chamber and to the joy of a midlife tattoo on the album’s first single ‘First Tattoo’.
In finest pop tradition, ‘First Tattoo’ is literally a three-chord song, centred around a nursery rhyme riff, but played on a kalimba (thumb piano), with loads of lovely texture and interplay from Annie Perry on bass clarinet and David Grubb on violin. “I wanted to write something simple and joyful, without a care in the world”, explains Young. “On vocals, it was a family affair, with daughter Rosa providing backing a-has in addition to My Girl The River, and partner Kate donating her laugh at the whole silliness of it all. And yes, I am getting a tattoo”, he further adds.
Young’s previous albums have consistently attracted four and five star reviews, and his last full album, 2021’s ‘Talk About The Weather’ (with Andy Ruddy) was shortlisted for Fatea Album of the Year. His most recent project was a charity EP for Save Ukraine, with whom his brother Dave worked as an emergency relief driver. ‘First Tattoo’ signals a new era for Serious Child and serves as a delicious taster of the highly anticipated album to come. The accompanying video for the single sees Young in Brighton, pondering whether he may or may not be too old or too uncool to get his first tattoo. Young sees and chats to many awesomely inked people on his way to a tattoo parlour where the employees help him finish the song in a glorious finale.
Catch Serious Child playing around the UK on a double headline tour with My Girl The River as follows:
