Young Fathers – Only God Knows

Back in 1996, Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ was included as a essential part of the soundtrack to ‘Trainspotting’, becoming cultural phenomenon. Skip forward two decades, and the ‘Trainspotting’ posse are back, but with a brand new host of musicians backing them up. It makes total sense for Young Fathers to be part of the soundtrack for ‘T2’ (they’re from Edinburgh and are connected to both Irvine Welsh and Danny Boyle after all) but pulling off a ‘Born Slippy’ isn’t an easy task.

It’s one the trio don’t half have a good go at though. ‘Only God Knows’ eventually swells with beats (the “heartbeat” Boyle wanted for the film), the Fathers themselves are all pumped up and it has a spiritual twist thanks to some vocal assistance from the Leith Congregational Choir. But whereas ‘Born Slippy’ tapped into the club-culture zeitgeist of the mid-90s, becoming embedded into the cultural consciousness as a result, ‘Only God Knows’ just doesn’t have the same kind of pulsating, immediate draw. Indeed, ‘Only God Knows’ if it’ll be remembered as well as its predecessor 20 years from now.