Yard Act sharpen their next era with Redeemer

Yard Act’s new album announcement for You’re Gonna Need a Little Music continues to stand out in the 18 May indie news cycle. The Leeds band are set to release the album on 17 July via Republic, with Redeemer acting as the first single and a signal that the band are moving somewhere darker, heavier and less laptop-centered than before.

The album was produced by Justin Meldal-Johnsen and recorded in Leeds and Los Angeles, with the band reportedly playing together in the same room for the first time on one of their records. That matters because Yard Act’s earlier appeal often came from talky precision, post-punk angles and social observation delivered with a smirk. Redeemer suggests a broader, stranger and more physical version of that world.

James Smith has framed the album around fractured realities, individualism and the collapse of shared belief systems, which feels very Yard Act: funny until it suddenly sounds like a diagnosis. For indie readers, this is a strong current story because Yard Act are trying to evolve without losing the weirdness that made them matter. They are still sarcastic, still political and still rhythmically sharp, but the next chapter looks less like commentary from the corner and more like a band stepping into the storm. Source: https://pitchfork.com/news/yard-act-ready-new-album-youre-gonna-need-a-little-music