“By now you’re either with us, or you’re not / So you can sit down, shut up and listen / Or switch this shit off.”
Music is better when it blends euphoric post-punk sounds with deeply wry yet hopeful spoken-word observations about the bleakness of human existence. Step forward the lads from Leeds, Yard Act. Released via Island/EMI Records, a third offering following 2024’s Where’s My Utopia? and the Mercury Prize-nominated The Overload comes the ever-inviting and pretty sound advice: You’re Gonna Need A Little Music.
Recording between their beloved hometown and LA under the watchful stewardship of producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Nine Inch Nails, Beck, St. Vincent), the band recorded the entire album live in one room, which sounds normal, but these days is apparently quite unusual. Less laptops, more eye contact. This gives the record a certain edge, a newfound layer of bombastic energy (take Fiction as an example), while lead singer James Smith continues his blend of singing and spoken word to a delightful, gnarly effect in the Jarvis Cocker and The Bad Seeds opener Empty Pledges.
Lead single Redeemer is even grimier. You can’t escape the angst as it shakes you violently as you’re trying to go about your day, while Thrill of the Chase is quite exhausting and uncomfortable to listen to, actually, but it grows on you. While New Beginnings and Tall Tales feel quite familiar to Yard Act followers – the spoken word/burst of punk /harmony formula rinse-repeat working very hard and very well- the record does grow a sonic sprawl not heard on the previous offerings, from disco to funk to psychedelic Britpop. The title track is wonderfully anthemic with the flicks of piano while Smith gets a little bit Skinner on us on the witty yearnings of Janey Said.
Despite familiarity in places, this record offers us a band full of confidence, crafting a rich, aromatic spice rack of sound that can both reverberate and cure your worries and anxiety in one go. Sign me up for a little music.
