Yard Act are stepping confidently into their next era. With their third album You’re Gonna Need A Little Music arriving on 17th July via Island Records, the Leeds quartet have dropped its second single, ‘New Beginnings’, a track that feels like a deliberate exhale after the darker, heavier tones of lead single Redeemer.
Listen HERE
Where Redeemer snarled, New Beginnings glows. It’s Yard Act at their most open‑armed, leaning into melody and warmth without losing the sharp observational edge that’s become their signature. Frontman James Smith frames it as a moment of clarity: a song about shedding old skins, often without realising you’ve done it, and choosing to celebrate the shift rather than mourn what’s gone.
If Yard Act’s first two albums were shaped by necessity, written on laptops, carved out in hotel rooms, assembled between relentless tours, this one is the sound of a band finally given space to breathe.
For the first time, the four members recorded together in the same room, splitting sessions between Leeds and Los Angeles with heavyweight producer Justin Meldal‑Johnsen (Nine Inch Nails, Beck, St Vincent). The result? A sprawling creative burst that reportedly produced 40–50 songs, distilled into their most dynamic and collaborative record yet.
Smith calls the process “freedom”, a five‑month uninterrupted stretch where the band could follow ideas without the pressure of a tour van idling outside. That sense of liberation pulses through New Beginnings: bright, rhythmic, and quietly triumphant.
To celebrate the album’s release, Yard Act will hit the road for a run of six UK in‑store and out‑store shows in partnership with independent record shops across the country. Fans who pre‑order the album through participating stores will gain access to tickets.
16th July - La Belle Angele, Edinburgh (in association with Assai Records) NEW
17th July - Baltic, Liverpool (in association with Jacaranda Records) NEW
19th July - Rough Trade East, London NEW
21st July - Rough Trade, Nottingham NEW
22nd July - Rough Trade, Bristol NEW
24th July - Chalk, Brighton (in association with Resident Records) NEW
These intimate shows land just ahead of a packed touring schedule that sees the band across Europe in June, North America in August, and back through Europe again in October, before a fresh run of UK headline dates in November.
6th November – O2 Academy, Leeds
7th November – O2 Academy, Leeds
10th November – NX, Newcastle
11th November – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow
12th November – Octagon Centre, Sheffield
13th November – O2 Victoria Warehouse, Manchester
15th November – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
16th November – O2 Academy, Leicester
17th November – Rock City, Nottingham
18th November – Junction 1, Cambridge
20th November – O2 Academy, Oxford
21st November – Bristol Beacon, Bristol
23rd November – Plymouth Arena, Plymouth
24th November – O2 Guildhall, Southampton
26th November – O2 Academy Brixton, London
You’re Gonna Need A Little Music follows the band’s Mercury‑nominated debut The Overload and their UK Top 5 follow‑up Where’s My Utopia?. Early hints suggest this new record is their most emotionally varied yet, a collision of cynicism, curiosity, and catharsis, sharpened by the energy of a band finally working as a true unit.