Later Youth unveils haunting new single 'Statuesque', inspired by a near-death experience

UK multi-instrumentalist and producer Later Youth, the musical moniker of Jo Dudderidge, returns with his most surreal and personal work to date: new single 'Statuesque'. The track is a fever dream born from a harrowing chapter in Dudderidge’s life: a near-fatal case of viral meningitis while travelling in Australia.

Hospitalised for three weeks at age 23 and drifting in and out of consciousness, Dudderidge began to experience vivid, dreamlike visions, including original music he’d never heard before. One of those melodies, remembered in detail upon recovery, became the backbone of 'Statuesque', a track that lingered in his mind for nearly 15 years before being fully realised.

The result is a hypnotic piece of alt-pop, balancing eerie rhythms with lyrical mystique. “Lyrically, the song comes from a bit of prose I wrote from the perspective of a statue in a museum,” explains Dudderidge. “It had spent its life silently observing humans pass by, trapped inside an inanimate body. That concept became the heart of the song.”