Coffee House Sessions: Hudson Taylor

The Curiositea queue is taking a decidedly different trajectory this May bank holiday. Crammed in the café’s undergrowth of bunting, chandeliers and assorted nic-nacs are Hudson Taylor, the Dublin brothers that, for a couple of hours, have become far and away the biggest names on campus. They’re standing at the end of a line for autographs and selfies that’s winding itsway past the stage after the university café played host to its biggest act yet.

Having appeared on BBC Radios One and Two and facing a packed UK festival schedule that includes T in the Park, Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, the duo aren’t letting fame go to their heads. “We were sandwiched between Lana Del Rey and Jack White. It was really surreal,” says younger brother Alfie of their experience on Zane Lowe‘s show. When I note that they bear similarities to Kodaline, his response speaks volumes about their current success: “yeah, we toured with them!”

With every table occupied and no hope of finding standing space between them, I eventually settle for a spot propping the door open towards the back of the queue. Alfie, sitting next to the older Harry, seems genuinely surprised when I tell him it’s the busiest Curiositea has ever been during our post-gig interview: “Is it really? Well I hope we sold a lot of coffee anyway!” Once the music starts at Curiositea, it’s not hard to see why demand is so high. The duo launches into an opening salvo of clean two-part harmonies and a lush acoustic sound that cuts straight through the mid-exam gloom. Harry, thoughtful and lanky, cuts a muted figure next to the effusive Alfie, but their different appearances bely an infectious on-stage chemistry. They seem to do everything in unison, from bobbing up and down between strums to sipping on their respective bottles of Volvic and prefacing each transition with a knowing nod. They squeeze every ounce of sound from their stripped-back setup for ‘Put Down Your Weapons’. Harry is all muted chords and percussive strums while Alfie takes on the melodic highs, finding variation within the blur of guitar strings. The former even mentions that they’re tempted to write a song while on-stage. “We like to scat,” he says. “We just sit and play a jam and something will come out of that.”

It’s taken them a while to get to this point, mind.“To some people [our rise] might seem quick – it definitely hasn’t been quick for us,” Harry tells me, pointing out that they’re about to reach a total of six EPs and 42 songs on Spotify. Raised on a diet of classical and Beatles records, they set about busking together for pocket money during their teenage years before moving on to adding some “jiggery pokery” (Harry’s words) to songs they recorded on an iPhone. “It’s nice when you’re writing songs with your brother. You’re not trying to write it for anyone except yourselves,” Alfie adds.

“Alfie and Harry seem to do everything in unison, from bobbing up and down between strums to sipping on their respective bottles of Volvic and prefacing each transition with a knowing nod.”

It’s an approach that resonates throughout the furtive ‘World Without You’, a song that Alfie later tells me was written about drifting apart from a friend from Dublin. The simple plea of ‘don’t forget who it is that you are’ appears to be a mantra of sorts for the Irishmen, who fully recognise their ascent to fame while making constant references to family, friends, and Ireland. It’s no surprise that, when they step away from their mics to serenade us with a stripped-back number from among the assorted tables, the hushed café erupts into the biggest cheer of the evening.

After a ghostly cover of Nirvana‘s ‘Come As You Are’, their set finishes with new single ‘Battles’, a mixture between the Irish folk tradition and the pop sensibilities of Mumford and Sons. It’s the most frenetic moment of the afternoon; Harry, usually so calm and collected, leans backwards as the duo – and more than a few members of the audience – belt out the memorable refrain of “we’re all just cynics on the run.”

Hudson Taylor stick around after their last song, entertaining the crowd with a few attempts to take a panoramic photo of the venue (there’s something wonderful about hearing the words ‘fish-eye lens’ spoken in an Irish brogue). With a parting reminder to check out their upcoming album (due for release in September), the pair down tools and prepare for the inevitable post-gig niceties, countering the subsequent onslaught of compliments with a hearty “thanks a million!” It’s all part of the routine for two brothers who remain relentlessly unassuming in the face of stardom.

To find out more about Hudson Taylor, visit coffeehousesessions.com or check out their website at http://www.hudsontaylormusic.com.