There is something a little funny about a guy who started out as a teenage YouTube cover star naming his second album Songs for Young Lovers without a hint of irony. Johnny Orlando is 23 now. He has been doing this for over a decade. And yet the title fits, because this album sounds like someone who still believes in all of it, just with a little more polish than he had at sixteen.
Songs for Young Lovers came out today, June 12, 2026, on Position Music. Twelve songs, just under 35 minutes. It is short, and it does not overstay its welcome anywhere.
The Sound
The biggest shift here is that Orlando is not trying to belt every chorus anymore. Earlier in his career he leaned hard into big vocal moments, the kind of songs built for a key change and a held note. This album mostly lets that go. He sounds comfortable letting a track just sit in its groove instead of pushing for a moment.
Get Me High is a good example. It has that hazy, comedown feeling that early Coldplay used to do so well, all soft guitars and a vocal that floats instead of reaches. Slow and Steady goes a different direction entirely, with a glam rock guitar solo that takes over the back half of the song in a way that catches you off guard the first time you hear it. The Crowd leans into a loose, almost psychedelic groove that would not have felt out of place on a late period Beatles record, which is a strange thing to say about a guy best known for teen pop songs, but here we are.
Then there is Johnny Bossa Nova, the closing track, which does exactly what the title says. It is a left turn, but it works as a way to end the record on something warm and a little playful instead of another big finish.
The Quieter Moments
Emilia is one of the best songs on the album, and it works because Orlando pulls back instead of pushing forward. It is intimate, almost conversational, closer to the low key R&B style that Justin Bieber leaned into a few years back. Orlando has talked about Bieber as an influence before, and you can hear it here, but it does not feel like he is copying anyone. It just feels like he finally has the confidence to sing quietly and trust that it will still land.
Charlotte, the lead single released back in April, set the tone for the whole record. It has a loose, slightly unguarded feeling to it, like it was recorded in one or two takes without much fuss. Orlando has said this album represents a real shift for him, less calculated and more alive, and Charlotte is the clearest example of what he meant by that.
Where It Falls Short
At 34 minutes across 12 songs, nothing here gets much time to breathe. A couple of tracks in the middle stretch, Heads Up and Oh!, are pleasant but forgettable, the kind of songs that pass by without leaving much of an impression. They are not bad. They just do not do anything the better songs around them are not already doing better.
The album also does not really attempt a big single in the traditional sense. If you came in expecting a hook built for radio, you will not find one here. That is clearly intentional, and it mostly works in the album’s favor, but it does mean this is a record that rewards sitting with it rather than one that grabs you immediately.
The Verdict
Songs for Young Lovers is Orlando settling into himself. He has spent over a decade in the public eye, starting as a kid posting covers online, and this album sounds like someone who finally feels comfortable enough to ease off and let the songs be what they are instead of reaching for something bigger. Get Me High, Slow and Steady, The Crowd, and Emilia are all genuinely good songs, and the whole thing moves by quickly enough that the few weaker tracks never really drag it down.
It is a quiet kind of growth, but it is real growth, and for an artist who has been doing this since he was a teenager, that counts for a lot.
Songs for Young Lovers is out now via Position Music.
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