·8th September 2021

Yard Act Announce Debut LP The Overload & Sign To Island Records/Zen F.C.

Yard Act have revealed that they have signed to Island Records/Zen F.C and that they will be bringing out their debut album, The Overload in January 2022.

Spearheaded by James Smith (vocals) and Ryan Needham (bass), and completed by Sam Shjipstone (guitar) and Jay Russell (drums), Yard Act have built a sound that speaks inherently to the current cultural and political moment in the UK, and yet ties together observations from all walks of modern British life – the small-town bloke in the local pub, the anti-capitalist stuck at a desk job, the tired activist in all of us torn between easy complicity and the desire to fight.

Their debut EP, which collected their early singles was released in late 2020 and sold 3000 physical copies, most of them in the first week it was released, and the moment the band were allowed to play live again they began selling out every venue they played, before playing the Reading Festival in August and solidifying their status as one of the most exciting UK exports of recent years. Today, Yard Act have announced their feverishly anticipated debut album The Overload, which is due to be released on January, 7th 2022 via Island Records and their own imprint Zen F.C., and to mark the release they have shared the record’s searing lead single of the same name, alongside a video directed by James Slater (Major Lazer, Pale Waves).

Spanning 11 entirely new tracks, The Overload is a record that rages with Yard Act’s inimitable wit, musical dexterity and tasteful curation. Littered with Yard Act’s signature dark humour and knowing cynicism, The Overload pokes fun at society without ever punching down from a place of superiority. “Lyrically, I think it’s a record about the things that we all do — we’re all so wired into the system of day to day that we don’t really stop and think about the constructs that define us,” says Smith. “But also beyond that, it’s kind of exciting, because there’s still so much we don’t understand; how a hive mindset is forged, how information spreads, how we agree and presume things without thinking. Some people think more than others, but a lot of this sloganeering – ‘I’m on the left, I’m not wrong’ – doesn’t achieve anything. I find it all so boring. I’m just not into that.”

“We all succumb to fear most of the time, and it explains a lot about why we make the decisions we do. I imagine the chorus delivered by a Greek chorus; omnipresent, and encompassing the themes of not only this song, but the whole album. That’s what The Overload is essentially. It’s everything happening at once, and it’s our tiny, feeble minds trying to process and cope with it. Good luck.”

The Overload is out via Island Records and Zen F.C. on January 7th, 2022. It is available for preorder here.

Tracklist
1. The Overload
2. Dead Horse
3. Payday
4. Rich
5. The Incident
6. Witness (Can I Get A?)
7. Land Of The Blind
8. Quarantine The Sticks
9. Tall Poppies
10. Pour Another
11. 100% Endurance