Yard Act dropped their new ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ album last week. It is the follow up to the Leeds band’s critically-acclaimed debut record ‘The Overload’ which arrived in January 2022. ‘The Overload’ was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize after a slew of positive reviews, national radio playlisting’s and a placing at No.2 in the Official Charts. The new album is a co-production between Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr.
The lead single from the album is ‘Dream Job’ and speaking about it Yard Act’s James Smith said: “‘Dream Job’ feels like an apt introduction to the themes explored on ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ – though not all encompassing. In part I was scrutinising and mocking myself for being a moaning ungrateful little brat, whilst also trying to address how the music industry is this rather uncontrollable beast that hurtles forward unthinkingly and every single person involved in it plays their part. Myself included, obviously. As with pretty much everything else going through my head last year, trying to find the right time to articulate the complexity of emotions I was feeling and the severity to which I was feeling them couldn’t be found – or accommodated, so instead I tried to capture it in a pop song that lasts less than three minutes once the fog had cleared a bit. It’s good and bad. I’m still glad that everything that happened to me happened.”
Yard Act who have opened the main stage at Reading & Leeds Festival as well as making appearances at Latitude (headlining the BBC Sounds stage, no less), Fuji Rocks, and Boardmasters. They also made their festival headline bow at Dot To Dot in Bristol & Nottingham, performed at Primavera (Barcelona, Madrid & Porto) and played their maiden shows in Australia and New Zealand, truly making their mark on the global stage in 2023.
Brighton folk will shortly get the chance to see Yard Act live when they play Brighton Dome on Monday 25th March. Tickets are still available and can be purchased HERE.
