Young Gun Silver Fox

Those who claim subcultures are dead might want to spend some time in the online yacht rock communities. They’d find them buzzing—alive with excitement for what’s already being hailed as the album of the year: the latest release by Young Gun Silver Fox, a London-based duo who’ve spent the past decade crafting the most heartfelt and refined revival of ’70s soft/smooth sounds.

And the album is remarkable—just like the group’s previous ones were. That the lens is nostalgic becomes clear from the very first track: “Stevie & Sly” pays tribute to two guardian angels, Wonder and Stone, with a supple, muscular groove. Lush Rhodes chords take flight immediately—it's silky, funky progressive soul, complete with a perfectly timed and cheekily surprising major seventh break at the end of the verse.
Next up, “Born to Dream” sets the Doobie bounce in motion—a certified seal of approval for any hardcore or casual yachter. As per the manual, the sunny hook is shaded with clever descending notes at the end of each line, and there's an impeccable suspended-harmony bridge to seal the deal.

Craft? Plenty. But also class. The deck may be stacked, but making it feel like a real game—that takes something else, especially in such a sophisticated playground. These Brits don’t just pick one act to imitate: they move freely across references and eras, capturing what best serves the emotionally layered mood that is, in fact, their real signature dish.
“Holding Back the Fire” starts off luminous and bittersweet—part Hall & Oates circa Abandoned Luncheonette, part... Prefab Sprout, maybe? But then it breaks into a brassy, high-stepping chorus à la Earth, Wind & Fire, swinging between sunset melancholy and disco-night energy.
There’s a similar reflective tone in “Stealing Time,” clear-eyed but wistful, with lyrics that—on top of the music’s evocative charm—underscore the feeling of fullness and helplessness that comes with watching time slip away:

What I wouldn’t give to make a minute last a year
Slow the seconds just keep you here in my life
But this moment’s all we have
Blink and it’ll soon be gone
Now I’m just holding on
Stealing Time

With over 300,000 monthly Spotify listeners—and growing fast since the first singles dropped—it’s clear the duo’s following extends beyond obsessives of decades past. Their appeal was intergenerational from the start: guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lee, the “Silver Fox,” has been rocking the salt-and-pepper look for over twenty years now, while Andy Platts, the “Young Gun,” only recently entered his -anta phase.
And in the end, isn’t yacht rock—at least as a genre—more a product of our time than its supposed golden age?
Their May 22 show at Milan’s Blue Note will be a good chance to see how much, even in the wide waters of retromania, it still comes down to the touch of whoever’s steering the ship.

08/05/2025