Rock and a Hard Place, out February 13th on Independent Co, is an album born of a soulful need to dance and sing. This is Yellow Days’ sixth LP at just 26 years of age. Such an impressive output has seen collaborations with known influences Mac DeMarco and Gorillaz. A Rock and a Hard Place is his most impressive yet; drawing on swing, jazz, soul and RnB this LP is an odyssey of the emotions that music teases out of us.
Special Kind Of Woman is a crooning classic fused with old-fashioned soul. Yellow Days, whose real name is George van de Broek, cites Ray Charles as one of his primary inspirations and heroes. Long-term Yellow Days fans and new listeners alike would not find this a huge shock. His voice shrieks through as if from a 50s jazz club, amid the clinking of scotch glasses and cigarette smoke.
Pop the top of your Corvette down and slide on your shades. Take a slow drive down Hollywood Boulevard in the 70s. Some of the tracks on this album sound like the inside of Alex Turner’s head circa 2023. For Scott Walker, see Let Me Down Easy.
Glitter and Gold squeezes yet more power from George’s rasping, timeless voice. This track recalls the raw passion of Lennon’s Yer Blues. On Sharon, there’s a disco in Frisco. Shut your eyes, and you’re there: your collar is large, as are your platformed shoes.
Yet more great artists come to mind. King Krule. The Beach Boys. Shoot Me With Your Love Gun touches on the psychedelic, bringing to mind Tame Impala tracks that stretch an idea and sustain it effortlessly. Here, you lose yourself in a foot-tapping daze and realise over 7 minutes of the track have passed.
The LP throughout moves us from the smooth and easy-talking swing of the stage at the Sands Hotel, with a noir pink panther beat for Daylight Miracles, to the multicoloured checked dance floor of the clubs. Fans of Thee Sacred Souls will find a new home within this album. The lyrics touch less upon universal love and can lean towards the dark and neo-realist. That does not detract from George’s ability to generate and harness lyrical beauty. Thee Sacred Souls and Yellow Days are cut from the same cloth, but Yellow Days takes a different shape. A final string sectioned outro closes the curtain on this gorgeous fusion of everything great about music, fused with the clean finish of a modern, successful pop record.