what’s occurring?
New album incoming
After a four year wait, What Lies Beneath will be coming out on November 7th.
In my most ambitious album yet, Chris Pepper and I are joined by the brilliant violinist David Grubb and bass clarinet of Annie Perry, with backing vocals from My Girl The River, and a fantastic guest appearance by Andy Ruddy.
Pre-orders are now available from here, to be delivered in time for November 7th, and CDs and vinyl will also be available at my upcoming shows.
Dusk on the 33
Dusk on the 33, the second single from What Lies Beneath, is now out.
It’s the gentle story of a woman who rides the buses all day to keep warm, while no-one notices her. The song is based on the Georgian lullaby IavNana (Violet Nana), and has been made into an intergenerational dance piece by choreographer Jason Keenan-Smith, which you can see by clicking the video link above. I’m really proud of this one.
National Tour from Oct
I’ll be back out on the road shortly with my good friends Kris and Joe, otherwise known as My Girl The River.
We’ll be playing as a joint band playing a set each of other’s material; starting in Windsor on October 16, Cambridge on October 17, followed by a run of dates in Luton, Alton, Surbiton, London and Lewes in November, and more in 2026.
Interviews and podcasts
In the run up to What Lies Beneath coming out, and indeed going out on tour, I’ve been doing a bunch of interviews and podcasts, which have been a bit more searching than I’d expected. My favourite two so far are the Tech Ledger podcast on Substack, which covers my life and work before I was a musician, and an interesting interview with Fame Magazine, where they asked some genuinely awkward questions about my album. The Fame interview is below, and the trailer to Tech Ledger above. When it comes out in full, I’ll put a link up here.
RIP Tony Harrison
When I was at university, I was introduced to the poetry of Tony Harrison, which has left a lasting mark on me to this day.
He was a brilliant and challenging academic, poet, translator and dramatist who was perhaps best known for offending the Daily Mail and various Tory MPs with the Channel 4 version of his poem V, about graffiti scrawled on his parents’ gravestones.
A couple of years ago, I asked Tony if I could set one of his most personal poems, Book Ends II, about the death of his mother, to music. It took him about 20 minutes to come back and say yes.
Tony Harrison - 30 April 1937 - 26 September 2025
God Bless yer, Tony. Yer a bloody good poet.
Who’s the hairy guy?
Thanks so much for popping in to have a look at my website.
To introduce myself, I’m Alan Young, and go by the stage name Serious Child. I live in an old beech wood in the South of England, and have been writing and recording music for coming up to ten years.
I’ve been lucky enough to be able to make four albums, and lots and lots of music videos. Despite being a solo artist, I get a lot of energy from working with other musicians and artists, both in the studio and performing live, so there’s quite a bit of variety in what I’m doing.
Come and have a look round my little online world. There’s music and film from all of my projects. There are also live dates, or if you’d like to support me, there is a shop where you can buy music and merchandise. Or just say hello. I’ll put the kettle on.
Alan x