Yard Act<\/a> debuted forthcoming third album \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music<\/a>\u2019 in full last night (Thursday May 7), playing the just-announced record top to bottom at Tottenham\u2019s Unit 58.<\/p>\n Having announced the album earlier in the day<\/a> alongside the ominous crash of lead single \u2018Redeemer<\/a>\u2019, the Leeds band took to the stage in the warehouse venue for a special show only announced to fans on their mailing list.<\/p>\n Kicking into the slow-building stream of consciousness of opening track \u2018Empty Pledges\u2019 and then the Beck<\/a>-nodding \u2018New Beginnings\u2019, the set already found early fan favourites in the funk-tinged skulk of \u2018Fiction\u2019 and the record\u2019s title track: a joyous piano-heavy highlight with touches of Pulp<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Cherophobe Rock\u2019 arrived with a propulsive, \u201800s indie spirit before dropping out to a wonky, Blur<\/a>-like piano outro, while \u2018Thrill Of The Chase\u2019 saw frontman James Smith spitting out its crescendo, as close to rap as the band have ever come.<\/p>\n Ahead of \u2018Redeemer\u2019, Smith then directed the crowd towards its new video, in which he shares the screen with a crow. \u201cI was lucky enough to get acquainted with a crow and the handler said I had a way with them, which is true cos I\u2019m friends with four crows,\u201d he quipped before pointing out the members of post-punk band Crows in the crowd.<\/p>\n pic.twitter.com\/7WZF6yIHdC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 P of the G (@roader71) May 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Concluding the album with \u2018Talky Talky People\u2019 and \u2018Over The Barrel\u2019, the latter replete with a dummy ending that came back in to conclude with a multi-part harmony, Yard Act then declared that \u201cas the gear\u2019s already set up\u201d they would finish the set with a few old songs. The night ended with debut album track \u2018Dead Horse\u2019, early single \u2018Dark Days\u2019 and, following chants from the crowd, an encore of \u2018The Trapper\u2019s Pelts\u2019.<\/p>\n The live debut was befitting of the creation of \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019, which saw the band \u2013 completed by bassist Ryan Needham, guitarist Sam Shipstone and drummer Jay Russell \u2013 record live in the room together for the first time. \u201cThe first two records were both laptop records essentially,\u201d Smith said in a press statement about their previous work \u2013 2022\u2019s Mercury Prize<\/a> nominated \u2018The Overload<\/a>\u2019 and its 2024 follow-up \u2018Where\u2019s My Utopia?<\/a>\u2019.<\/p>\n Yard Act will release \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019 on July 17 via Island Records.<\/p>\n Conversely, for \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019, the band wrote \u201c40 to 50 songs\u201d in an \u201cuninterrupted five month period\u201d of creativity, then recording the album with Nine Inch Nails bassist Justin Meldal-Johnson<\/a> between LA and Leeds.<\/p>\n So today it was off to unit 58 ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/yardact4@2000x1270.jpg\")
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To see Yard Act play out their new album in full.
Can’t argue for \u00a35 a ticket and a free tee-shirt, had worse Thursday nights pic.twitter.com\/Dsl3Dlwu1w<\/a><\/p>\n