Mercury Prize-nominated Leeds outfit Yard Act have shared “New Beginnings,” the shimmering second single from their forthcoming third studio album, You’re Gonna Need A Little Music, arriving on July 17th via Island Records. Acting as a melodic, bright counterweight to the existential darkness of lead single “Redeemer,” the track captures a band moving confidently into their next evolution. To support the release, the quartet has announced a six-date UK in-store and out-store tour kicking off this July in partnership with independent record shops, giving fans exclusive access to intimate live performances upon pre-ordering the record.
Of the single, the band’s James Smith describes,
“’New Beginnings’ is a bit of light to counteract the dark we led with [Redeemer]. Sometimes we’ve already shed our old skin without even realising it’s happening. Celebrate the new, because you can’t go back. The first two records were both laptop records essentially… [This time] felt like freedom. It felt like everything I’d wanted from being in a band.”
For a band universally celebrated for their explosive live presence, You’re Gonna Need A Little Music surprisingly marks the first time the four-piece have ever recorded an album together as a live band in the same room. While their debut The Overload and 2024’s Where’s My Utopia? were pieced together on laptops, tour buses, and in hotel rooms, a rare five-month break from the road allowed the band to set up a dedicated workspace. Splitting recording sessions between their hometown of Leeds and Los Angeles with heavyweight producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Beck, St. Vincent, Nine Inch Nails), the band tracked dozens of songs in a state of absolute creative freedom, resulting in their most collaborative, dynamic, and emotionally varied work to date.
The release week in-store tour kicks off on July 15th at Edinburgh’s La Belle Angele (via Assai Records), before winding through independent landmarks like Jacaranda in Liverpool and various Rough Trade locations, concluding at Chalk in Brighton with Resident Records. These intimate shows arrive right before the band embarks on a massive, relentless global touring block that will see them hit North America in August, Europe in October, and a sprawling headline tour of UK arenas and academies across November
