Second time lucky

This year, some of the most-hyped young acts in pop – Jack Peñate, the Maccabees, the Horrors – have produced follow-up albums that – shock! – are better than their debuts. What's going on?The Difficult Second Album is an enduring concept in pop mythology. Young bands, so the story goes, put their formative years into creating an explosive debut that draws on their whole life experience – then stumble when their record label forces them to do it all again on...

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