(August 16, 2022) When multi-instrumentalist/producer Shawn Lee and Mamas Gun songwriter/lead vocalist Andy Platts teamed up as Young Gun Silver Fox for the marvelous yacht rock revival LP, 2015’s West End Coast, we all thought it would be a one-off affair. We were wrong.
Three years after, the dynamic duo dropped two full-length albums AM Waves and Crayons with only two years separating them. Even in a post-pandemic year when Mamas Gun are busy with a new album and touring life, Platts and Lee are continuing their beloved quest into the ports of yacht rock soul with their forthcoming venture, Ticket to Shangri-La. Just last month, the duo premiered “West Side Jet,” the first single off the next LP. And now the UK pair are yet again giving us another wondrous sneak peek into what’s over the dreamy horizon.
(August 16, 2022) When multi-instrumentalist/producer Shawn Lee and Mamas Gun songwriter/lead vocalist Andy Platts teamed up as Young Gun Silver Fox for the marvelous yacht rock revival LP, 2015’s West End Coast, we all thought it would be a one-off affair. We were wrong.
Three years after, the dynamic duo dropped two full-length albums AM Waves and Crayons with only two years separating them. Even in a post-pandemic year when Mamas Gun are busy with a new album and touring life, Platts and Lee are continuing their beloved quest into the ports of yacht rock soul with their forthcoming venture, Ticket to Shangri-La. Just last month, the duo premiered “West Side Jet,” the first single off the next LP. And now the UK pair are yet again giving us another wondrous sneak peek into what’s over the dreamy horizon.
On “Winners,” there’s a Quincy Jones-Rod Temperton-like ‘80s magic embedded in the music (think “One Hundred Ways” meets “Baby, Come to Me”). Thanks to the peaceful electric piano, subdued horns and -- much later — a Stevie Wonder-channeled harmonica, there’s a cathartic beauty that encircles the almost four-minute offering. And with Andy Platts crooning like a Marvin Gaye acolyte on lead and backing vocals, channeling peak-‘I Want You’ status, the lyrics of love yearning on the infectious chorus finds its voice: “Call me up, can we just talk together/Find an open door somewhere between us/We’ve survived before/Paid our dues in love and war/When we were winners.”
Let us know if you’re #winning with this First Listen to Young Gun Silver Fox’s latest track.
By J Matthew Cobb
Young Gun Silver Fox - "Winners"