Arlo Parks, Sleaford Mods open new season of 'Later… with Jools Holland'

The 57th season of Later… with Jools Holland premiered last night (February 19) featuring Arlo Parks, Sleaford Mods and Kings of Leon.

The show has been adapted in line with ongoing coronavirus restrictions, and saw remote performances as well as Parks joining Jools in the BBC studio.

The new series was opened by Kings of Leon who shared a performance of recent single ‘The Bandit’ from their home studio. The track appears on their eighth album ‘When You See Yourself’, which is set to arrive on March 5. Watch that performance below.

Arlo Parks then joined Jools in the studio to perform ‘Caroline’ from her debut album ‘Collapsed In Sunbeams’, as well as talking through her biggest influences, illustrated through clips of classic Later… performances.

Watch her performance of ‘Caroline’ below, and watch the whole episode via the BBC iPlayer here.

The curtain raiser of the new series also welcomed Sleaford Mods, who were joined by Billy Nomates for virtual a rendition of their recent collaboration ‘Mork n Mindy’, which appears on new album ‘Spare Ribs’.

Last year, Later… With Jools Holland returned to screens for a six-week lockdown series with Christine & The Queens, Laura Marling and more appearing from their respective homes.

Host Holland offered a sneak peek into how the staple BBC Music show had been adapted amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis last May. He said the series would see “me and (socially) distant guests discussing their life in music and revealing some of their favourite moments from our vast archives”.

Arlo Parks’ debut album, which came out via Transgressive at the end of last month, got a five-star review from NME. The review read: “Arlo Parks may be the voice of Gen Z, but there’s no doubt that this is a universal collection of stories that’ll provide solace for listeners of all ages and backgrounds for decades to come.”

Watch an exclusive track-by-track guide to the album that Parks gave NME above.