It\u2019s certainly a novel way to announce your comeback. On the opening song of Yard Act\u2019s new album, over a cacophony of doomy piano chords and crashing drums, singer James Smith announces: \u201cI\u2019ve got absolutely nothing \u2013 absolutely nothing new to say!\u201d And he\u2019s not finished there. Later in the same track, Empty Pledges, Smith whips himself up into unhinged preacher mode only to declare: \u201cDo you feel like an impostor for every new level you ascend to too? Do you have to bluff as much as I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
Is it refreshingly honest to begin a record by saying you haven\u2019t got a clue what you\u2019re doing \u2013 or an act of ludicrous self-sabotage? \u201cWell, I don\u2019t know if anyone has anything new to say really,\u201d says Smith with a grin when I meet him and bassist Ryan Needham in a London bar to discuss You\u2019re Gonna Need a Little Music, the band\u2019s forthcoming third LP. \u201cWe\u2019re in this age where everything has to be a manifesto and a statement, but it\u2019s mainly just a one-way conversation. Nobody wants to explore the grey areas any more.\u201d<\/p>\n
double quotation markIt\u2019s about having a bit of self-belief. But, just for context, I had absolutely zero before!<\/p>\n
If Yard Act\u2019s music suggests that self-doubt is the new braggadocio, then speaking to Smith is no different. He fluctuates between confidence and worry, frequently backtracking or qualifying his statements in case he comes across like a berk. Was that quote too pretentious? Too flippant? Is he underselling himself? Overselling himself? At times it\u2019s like listening to someone have a live philosophical argument with themself.<\/p>\n
Class act \u2026 the band from left, Jay Russell, Sam Shipstone, Smith and Ryan Needham. Photograph: James Winstanley<\/p>\n
On the new record, Smith even invents an alter ego, Janey, for this very purpose. \u201cJaney is that part of my brain that never stops thinking,\u201d he says. \u201cA part of me just wants to be content in the moment, but then Janey represents the part that thinks I should be dreaming bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n
It may be exhausting to be in Smith\u2019s head, but this frazzled state of self-examination is surely why so many people connect with his band. Because let\u2019s face it, who out there isn\u2019t constantly fretting right now about their place in this unstable world? Being a singer in a rock band might not be the most relatable subject matter, but status anxiety, existentialism, impostor syndrome? They most certainly are.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn our first two albums, we almost felt like competition winners or something,\u201d says Needham. \u201cAnd I think a lot of working-class artists feel like that these days. It took a lot of time to get over that and think, \u2018No, we\u2019re fucking good. We deserve a seat at the table.\u2019\u201d Then he quickly adds: \u201cI don\u2019t mean that in an arrogant way! It\u2019s about having a bit of self-belief but, just for context, I had absolutely zero before!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to have a mix of self-doubt and self-belief,\u201d says Smith. \u201cIt\u2019s kept us on a steady path. Which is boring \u2013 because you want people to say they\u2019re the best band in the world. Whereas actually I just think we\u2019re really good. I guess it\u2019s about having self-belief without going full fucking Kanye.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bands, you may or may not be old enough to remember, never used to speak like this. The perilous state of the music industry in 2026 is no doubt the reason: even pretty successful artists like Yard Act, who have had two Top 5 albums and collaborated with celebrity fan Elton John, worry about financial security. Yard Act\u2019s magic is to write about it in a way that connects. \u201cI think that\u2019s because we still have a foot in both worlds,\u201d says Smith. \u201cI\u2019m not segregated from society like some A-list celebrity. I think living in Leeds plays a big part in staying grounded.\u201d<\/p>\n
double quotation markI bought some oil paints on a whim. They are a great way of unlocking my brain<\/p>\n
When Yard Act first burst out of the city during the pandemic, they were a frenetic ball of post-punk energy (guitarist Sam Shipstone and drummer Jay Russell complete the line-up), picking at the scabs of late capitalism. The writing was sharp and funny, drawing comparisons to Mark E Smith and Half Man Half Biscuit. By the second album, 2024\u2019s Where\u2019s My Utopia, they\u2019d broadened their sonic palette and hit on a more personal style of writing, with Smith airing his fears around being a father and opening up about his own childhood.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re Gonna Need a Little Music marks another evolution. Written as a full band in the studio they built in Leeds (the first two were largely cobbled together on the road by Smith and Needham using a laptop), it navigates an eclectic array of influences \u2013 Blur, the Prodigy, disco house, desert rock-era Arctic Monkeys \u2013 while Smith explores a more surreal, impressionistic style of wordplay. \u201cFlat out lies climb chaos spires \/ As Rapunzel lets down your tyres,\u201d thunders new single Redeemer.<\/p>\n
\u2018We felt like competition winners\u2019 \u2026 bassist Ryan Needham performing with Smith. Photograph: Sergione Infuso\/Corbis\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought some oil paints on a whim,\u201d says Smith. \u201cThat turned out to be a great way of unlocking my brain from doing all the things I\u2019ve taught it to do over the years of being a musician. It stopped me from leaning on the tropes.\u201d<\/p>\n