Irish brothers Harry and Alfie Hudson-Taylor bring it all back home this weekend with live appearances in Swords, Greystones and Portlaoise to pop the corks for an album they recorded in Nashville, New York and Seattle – which certainly makes Loving Everywhere I Go a very apt album title.
The brothers excel at crafting pop-rock earworms that are accessible and radio-friendly enough to gain the crucial plays and streams to keep the show on the road following high-profile support slots to their illustrious labelmates on Rubyworks, Hozier and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
On cuts like Feel It Again and Favourite Song, the duo deliver cute and catchy songs that are exceedingly well produced by long-term friend and associate John Rausch, who has lent his Midas touch to artists such as Niall Horan and Florence and the Machine, and has also been nominated for a Grammy for his work on Red by Taylor Swift.
Their brand of pop may be a little too sweet and saccharine for some tastes, but they are much better than many plodding and predictable pop-rock acts doing the rounds. They also finish on a tender ballad, I Will Be There for You, proving that they have a few more strings to their bow.
Hudson Taylor have come a long way since making initial ripples busking on Grafton Street and showcasing themselves on YouTube as Harry & Alfie. The next chapter might well be even more interesting.
