{"id":2042626,"date":"2026-07-14T08:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2042626"},"modified":"2026-07-14T08:00:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T05:00:39","slug":"yard-act-on-andy-burnham-capitalism-and-the-power-of-art-as-community-nigel-farage-is-a-dark-entity-that-must-be-struck-out-at-all-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2042626","title":{"rendered":"Yard Act on Andy Burnham, capitalism, and the power of art as community: \u201cNigel Farage is a dark entity that must be struck out at all costs\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/yard-act-interview-credit-james-winstanley.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"template-id-2947849\" class=\"post-2947849 tdb_templates type-tdb_templates status-publish post\">\n<div id=\"tdi_65\" class=\"tdc-zone\">\n<div class=\"tdc_zone tdi_66  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div id=\"tdi_67\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_68  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_70  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_breadcrumbs tdi_71 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdb-breadcrumbs \" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_71\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span>Features<\/span><span>Music Interviews<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_title tdi_72 tdb-single-title td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_72\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Yard Act on Andy Burnham, capitalism, and the power of art as community: \u201cNigel Farage is a dark entity that must be struck out at all costs\u201d<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_subtitle tdi_73 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_73\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p>As the Leeds band return with their third, most energised album, they tell NME about keeping their creative priorities straight, the importance of grassroots music to regional diversity, and the state of British politics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_author tdi_75 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_75\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-author-name-wrap\"><span class=\"tdb-author-by\">By<\/span> Lisa Wright<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_date tdi_76 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 tdb-post-meta\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_76\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><time class=\"entry-date updated td-module-date\" datetime=\"2026-07-14T09:00:39+01:00\">14th July 2026<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_77\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row_1400 td-stretch-content\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_78  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_80  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_featured_image tdi_81 tdb-content-horiz-left td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_81\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"696\" height=\"442\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/yard-act-interview-credit-james-winstanley-696x442.jpg\" alt=\"Yard Act\" title=\"yard-act-interview-credit-james-winstanley\"><figcaption class=\"tdb-caption-text\">Yard Act credit: James Winstanley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_82\" class=\"tdc-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_83  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_85  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_86 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_86\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p><strong class=\"dropcap\">\u201cI<\/strong>t\u2019s been a big week!\u201d declares James Smith, sat in a precious patch of Kings Cross shade in the middle of London\u2019s apocalyptic heatwave. \u201cI\u2019ve just been to the Royal Academy to see my paintings, now I\u2019m doing an interview with <em>NME<\/em>, tomorrow I\u2019m starting therapy \u2013 AND,\u201d he suddenly remembers, waggling a finger gleefully towards bassist Ryan Needham, \u201cwe\u2019re going to Dishoom later! A lot\u2019s happening!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s more than a whiff of playful humour to the way the Yard Act frontman delivers his to-do list. Half a decade in and approaching the release of career-best third album \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019, you\u2019re still unlikely to get through more than a few minutes of conversation with the Leeds group without cracking a smile. But Smith\u2019s big plans also inadvertently point towards some far larger topics that the band \u2013 completed by guitarist Sam Shipstone and drummer Jay Russell \u2013 have been turning their gaze towards of late: the importance of art, the double-edged sword of ambition, and the mental toll it takes when you somehow try to wrangle a path between the two.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad0 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p>Those ideas are just the tip of the iceberg on \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019 \u2013 the quartet\u2019s most sonically confident and adventurous record to date, but also their most outward-looking and existential. Where 2024\u2019s \u2018Where\u2019s My Utopia?\u2019 saw them wrestling with the sudden success that their Mercury-nominated debut \u2018The Overload\u2019 afforded them, on their latest we find Smith facing \u201cthe hangover after a very wild ride\u201d of the band\u2019s story so far, set against a backdrop of rampant capitalism, institutional corruption, and a society rooted in selfishness and solipsism.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of today\u2019s conversation feels fitting, and not just because Smith (who recently started sharing his paintings on Instagram as @mrmuckybrushes) is riding high from the thrill of seeing his work displayed as part of the prestigious RA Summer Exhibition: proof of the giddy kicks that following your creative nose can get you. As the UK erupts into a climate disaster-based ball of flames, and with Keir Starmer\u2019s resignation as Prime Minister igniting yet more political upheaval, \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019\u2019s titular message of art as a salve and a place of sanity seems more appropriate than ever.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yard Act - New Beginnings\" width=\"696\" height=\"522\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7AwpsbQRgVI?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all coming together as we planned\u2026\u201d Smith jokes wryly, before referencing Starmer\u2019s slated successor. \u201cMaybe Andy Burnham will use [recent single] \u2018New Beginnings\u2019 on his campaign trail like D:Ream and \u2018Things Can Only Get Better\u2019\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018New Beginnings\u2019 opens with an insatiable Beck-like swagger, proclaiming that \u201c<em>society has not been kind to my efforts<\/em>\u201d. However, when Yard Act came crashing onto the scene during the pandemic, the public immediately lapped them up. \u2018Where\u2019s My Utopia?\u2019 hit the UK Number Four spot, maintaining their success at a similar level, but Smith nonetheless found his perceptions heading into a tailspin. \u201cIt was almost like\u2026 are we failing?\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd we weren\u2019t, but \u2018The Overload\u2019 happened at such an intense level that most bands don\u2019t ever reach and you can\u2019t repeat that excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad1 id_ad_content-horiz-center\">\n<h5 class=\"taboola-mid-article-title\">Recommended<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chasing the next big milestone, he soon began to realise, \u201ccan end up changing the way you do things to appease the commercial ambition in you, and then you lose a sense of why you did it in the first place. Eventually there\u2019s nowhere to go. What does Dave Grohl actually achieve by doing another stadium tour?\u201d the frontman questions. \u201cDoing this has to be about the avenues you can explore creatively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To ensure their priorities were straight on LP3, the quartet did everything differently. They moved into their own studio in Leeds, spent months playing around with ideas, and recorded together as a live band for the first time ever. For Yard Act, resisting the looming pull of external validation became about keeping things fun and pure. But as the snarling prowl of \u2018Thrill Of The Chase\u2019\u2019s ferocious lyrics argue, \u201c<em>the chase is just a ploy to keep us in our place<\/em>\u201d \u2013 no matter what world you find yourself in. \u201cIt\u2019s a merry-go-round. It\u2019ll lead you nowhere. You cannot win. And the people at the top of society have realised that, and now they\u2019re trying to get to space because what else is there to do?\u201d the frontman sighs.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe division of the left is harrowing. We can\u2019t agree on anything\u201d\u00a0\u2013\u00a0James Smith<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Boil down the problems in most industries, says Smith, and \u201cit\u2019s just capitalism\u201d. \u201cI think the only way forward is a universal basic income,\u201d he suggests. \u201cThe reason we\u2019re trying to reach such a big audience is because we know how big the audience needs to be to pay four people\u2019s wages. If we didn\u2019t have that pressure we wouldn\u2019t even be thinking about the metrics of success; we\u2019d just be doing our own thing. It\u2019s all part of the shackles of capitalism. And it\u2019s any industry \u2013 it\u2019s not just the music industry that has a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, MP and former Greater Manchester mayor Burnham seems like a shoo-in to step into 10 Downing Street. With his policies on devolution, shifting power back to local authorities, there are ideas here that could align with the band\u2019s thinking, but Smith is still hesitant. \u201cI would have many issues with him; I would not be celebrating, but I absolutely know with certainty that whilst we live in a first-past-the-post system \u2013 and whilst Zack Polanski is not polling [well enough] \u2013 I would do anything to keep fascists out,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThe division of the left is harrowing. We can\u2019t agree on anything. I do not see Andy Burnham as a shining beacon of hope, but I do see Nigel Farage as a dark, dark entity that must be struck out at all costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad2 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong class=\"dropcap\">A<\/strong>way from Whitehall, however, there have been efforts in recent years to pull the music industry out of its historic London centralism. The BRIT Awards will return to Manchester for a second time next year, while the Mercury Prize will return to Newcastle in October. Smith notes that the changes still need to be coming from a \u201cmore grassroots level if you want true regional diversity\u201d, but the conversations seem like a move in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>Both band members recall the difficulties they had in believing that, as people from regional northern areas, they could have a place in the music world. \u201cIt\u2019s a product of our upbringing. All four of us come from small towns \u2013 Derby, Warrington, Northampton, Sam\u2019s from somewhere near the Isle of Man. It\u2019s kind of hammered into you [in those places] that this is something that other people do,\u201d Needham says.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3956775\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3956775\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3956775\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/yard-act-album-interview-credit-james-winstanley.jpg\" alt=\"Yard Act\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1275\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3956775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yard Act credit: James Winstanley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOn the second album, Remi [Kabaka Jr, co-producer] basically told us to believe in ourselves and accept that we were artists because we kept making self-deprecating comments in the studio,\u201d Smith recalls. \u201cHe was basically like, \u2018I know you have imposter syndrome, but you are artists, and you\u2019re allowed to be artists, and you\u2019re allowed to create what you want\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a shift in mindset that\u2019s central to \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019. Exploratory and audibly excited, Yard Act\u2019s third is the sound of a band shaking off any shackles of expectation and revelling in the joy of possibility. They might be asking bigger, deeper questions than ever, but the four musicians have also unwittingly provided a possible answer. How do you make sense of a world that increasingly makes no sense at all? You hunker down with your mates, create the most interconnected, enlivened music of your careers and remind everyone just how good it can be when people work together and share the spoils.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusic and art in general, it\u2019s the third reality you can exist in. The first one is the world physically as we see it. The second is the one in your head, and your thoughts and feelings. And then, when you make something, it lives in that strange third space where, if you do it right, it can shift someone else\u2019s perspective even though you have no control of it. That\u2019s how I feel when I make music; I feel like I\u2019ve escaped reality,\u201d says Smith. Needham nods: \u201cIt\u2019s a world that I trust. I don\u2019t trust the fucking news cycle and the post-truth-ness of all that. I don\u2019t trust my own thoughts sometimes, but I trust artists. I just do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Yard Act\u2019s \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019 is out on July 17 via Island Records.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_tags tdi_87 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_87\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<ul class=\"tdb-tags\">\n<li><span>Related Topics<\/span><\/li>\n<li>Indie<\/li>\n<li>Yard Act<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_88\" class=\"tdc-row stretch_row_content td-stretch-content\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_89  wpb_row td-pb-row tdc-element-style\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_91  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"td-block td-a-rec td-a-rec-id-custom-spot tdi_92 td_block_template_2\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_93\" class=\"tdc-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_94  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_96  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"vc_row_inner tdi_98  vc_row vc_inner wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column_inner tdi_100  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-inner-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"vc_column-inner\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper td_block_wrap vc_raw_html tdi_102 \">\n<div class=\"td-fix-index\">\n<h3>More Stories<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap td_flex_block_1 tdi_103 td-pb-border-top td_module_flex_1--card td_module_flex_1--card--highlight td_block_template_2 tdc-no-posts td_flex_block\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_103\">\n<div id=\"tdi_103\" class=\"td_block_inner td-mc1-wrap\">\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Liz Lawrence announces 2026 UK tour<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Cast follow on from Oasis tour to announce 2026 \u2018Yeah Yeah Yeah\u2019 UK tour<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Cage The Elephant kick off \u201cnew chapter\u201d with \u2018Beaches in Tennessee\u2019, their first new music in two years: \u201cWe realised there\u2019s still room to&#8230;<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Watch Andy Burnham blind-rank his favourite bands \u2013 including Oasis, The Smiths, Wolf Alice and more<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Music News<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Watch Lewis Capaldi cover The Kooks \u2018Naive\u2019 with Luke Pritchard at BST Hyde Park 2026<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"td_module_flex td_module_flex_1 td_module_wrap td-animation-stack\">\n<div class=\"td-module-container td-category-pos-above\">\n<div class=\"td-module-meta-info\">\n                    Features<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"entry-title td-module-title\">Mad Cool Festival 2026 Day Four in photos: Pulp, Nick Cave &amp; The Bad Seeds, David Byrne and more<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tdi_104\" class=\"tdc-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_row tdi_105  wpb_row td-pb-row\">\n<div class=\"vc_column tdi_107  wpb_column vc_column_container tdc-column td-pb-span12\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"wpb_wrapper td_block_wrap vc_raw_html tdi_109 \">\n<div class=\"td-fix-index\">\n<h3>You May Also Like<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><\/span><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><\/span><\/span><span class=\"td-page-meta\"><\/span><\/article>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"td_block_wrap tdb_single_content tdi_86 td-pb-border-top td_block_template_2 td-post-content tagdiv-type\" data-td-block-uid=\"tdi_86\">\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<p><strong class=\"dropcap\">\u201cI<\/strong>t\u2019s been a big week!\u201d declares James Smith, sat in a precious patch of Kings Cross shade in the middle of London\u2019s apocalyptic heatwave. \u201cI\u2019ve just been to the Royal Academy to see my paintings, now I\u2019m doing an interview with <em>NME<\/em>, tomorrow I\u2019m starting therapy \u2013 AND,\u201d he suddenly remembers, waggling a finger gleefully towards bassist Ryan Needham, \u201cwe\u2019re going to Dishoom later! A lot\u2019s happening!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s more than a whiff of playful humour to the way the Yard Act frontman delivers his to-do list. Half a decade in and approaching the release of career-best third album \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019, you\u2019re still unlikely to get through more than a few minutes of conversation with the Leeds group without cracking a smile. But Smith\u2019s big plans also inadvertently point towards some far larger topics that the band \u2013 completed by guitarist Sam Shipstone and drummer Jay Russell \u2013 have been turning their gaze towards of late: the importance of art, the double-edged sword of ambition, and the mental toll it takes when you somehow try to wrangle a path between the two.<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad0 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p>Those ideas are just the tip of the iceberg on \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019 \u2013 the quartet\u2019s most sonically confident and adventurous record to date, but also their most outward-looking and existential. Where 2024\u2019s \u2018Where\u2019s My Utopia?\u2019 saw them wrestling with the sudden success that their Mercury-nominated debut \u2018The Overload\u2019 afforded them, on their latest we find Smith facing \u201cthe hangover after a very wild ride\u201d of the band\u2019s story so far, set against a backdrop of rampant capitalism, institutional corruption, and a society rooted in selfishness and solipsism.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of today\u2019s conversation feels fitting, and not just because Smith (who recently started sharing his paintings on Instagram as @mrmuckybrushes) is riding high from the thrill of seeing his work displayed as part of the prestigious RA Summer Exhibition: proof of the giddy kicks that following your creative nose can get you. As the UK erupts into a climate disaster-based ball of flames, and with Keir Starmer\u2019s resignation as Prime Minister igniting yet more political upheaval, \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019\u2019s titular message of art as a salve and a place of sanity seems more appropriate than ever.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Yard Act - New Beginnings\" width=\"696\" height=\"522\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7AwpsbQRgVI?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all coming together as we planned\u2026\u201d Smith jokes wryly, before referencing Starmer\u2019s slated successor. \u201cMaybe Andy Burnham will use [recent single] \u2018New Beginnings\u2019 on his campaign trail like D:Ream and \u2018Things Can Only Get Better\u2019\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018New Beginnings\u2019 opens with an insatiable Beck-like swagger, proclaiming that \u201c<em>society has not been kind to my efforts<\/em>\u201d. However, when Yard Act came crashing onto the scene during the pandemic, the public immediately lapped them up. \u2018Where\u2019s My Utopia?\u2019 hit the UK Number Four spot, maintaining their success at a similar level, but Smith nonetheless found his perceptions heading into a tailspin. \u201cIt was almost like\u2026 are we failing?\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd we weren\u2019t, but \u2018The Overload\u2019 happened at such an intense level that most bands don\u2019t ever reach and you can\u2019t repeat that excitement.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad1 id_ad_content-horiz-center\">\n<h5 class=\"taboola-mid-article-title\">Recommended<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chasing the next big milestone, he soon began to realise, \u201ccan end up changing the way you do things to appease the commercial ambition in you, and then you lose a sense of why you did it in the first place. Eventually there\u2019s nowhere to go. What does Dave Grohl actually achieve by doing another stadium tour?\u201d the frontman questions. \u201cDoing this has to be about the avenues you can explore creatively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To ensure their priorities were straight on LP3, the quartet did everything differently. They moved into their own studio in Leeds, spent months playing around with ideas, and recorded together as a live band for the first time ever. For Yard Act, resisting the looming pull of external validation became about keeping things fun and pure. But as the snarling prowl of \u2018Thrill Of The Chase\u2019\u2019s ferocious lyrics argue, \u201c<em>the chase is just a ploy to keep us in our place<\/em>\u201d \u2013 no matter what world you find yourself in. \u201cIt\u2019s a merry-go-round. It\u2019ll lead you nowhere. You cannot win. And the people at the top of society have realised that, and now they\u2019re trying to get to space because what else is there to do?\u201d the frontman sighs.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe division of the left is harrowing. We can\u2019t agree on anything\u201d\u00a0\u2013\u00a0James Smith<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Boil down the problems in most industries, says Smith, and \u201cit\u2019s just capitalism\u201d. \u201cI think the only way forward is a universal basic income,\u201d he suggests. \u201cThe reason we\u2019re trying to reach such a big audience is because we know how big the audience needs to be to pay four people\u2019s wages. If we didn\u2019t have that pressure we wouldn\u2019t even be thinking about the metrics of success; we\u2019d just be doing our own thing. It\u2019s all part of the shackles of capitalism. And it\u2019s any industry \u2013 it\u2019s not just the music industry that has a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, MP and former Greater Manchester mayor Burnham seems like a shoo-in to step into 10 Downing Street. With his policies on devolution, shifting power back to local authorities, there are ideas here that could align with the band\u2019s thinking, but Smith is still hesitant. \u201cI would have many issues with him; I would not be celebrating, but I absolutely know with certainty that whilst we live in a first-past-the-post system \u2013 and whilst Zack Polanski is not polling [well enough] \u2013 I would do anything to keep fascists out,\u201d Smith says. \u201cThe division of the left is harrowing. We can\u2019t agree on anything. I do not see Andy Burnham as a shining beacon of hope, but I do see Nigel Farage as a dark, dark entity that must be struck out at all costs.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"td-a-ad id_inline_ad2 id_ad_content-horiz-center\"><span class=\"td-adspot-title\">Advertisement<\/span><\/div>\n<p><strong class=\"dropcap\">A<\/strong>way from Whitehall, however, there have been efforts in recent years to pull the music industry out of its historic London centralism. The BRIT Awards will return to Manchester for a second time next year, while the Mercury Prize will return to Newcastle in October. Smith notes that the changes still need to be coming from a \u201cmore grassroots level if you want true regional diversity\u201d, but the conversations seem like a move in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>Both band members recall the difficulties they had in believing that, as people from regional northern areas, they could have a place in the music world. \u201cIt\u2019s a product of our upbringing. All four of us come from small towns \u2013 Derby, Warrington, Northampton, Sam\u2019s from somewhere near the Isle of Man. It\u2019s kind of hammered into you [in those places] that this is something that other people do,\u201d Needham says.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3956775\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3956775\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3956775\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/yard-act-album-interview-credit-james-winstanley.jpg\" alt=\"Yard Act\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1275\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3956775\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yard Act credit: James Winstanley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOn the second album, Remi [Kabaka Jr, co-producer] basically told us to believe in ourselves and accept that we were artists because we kept making self-deprecating comments in the studio,\u201d Smith recalls. \u201cHe was basically like, \u2018I know you have imposter syndrome, but you are artists, and you\u2019re allowed to be artists, and you\u2019re allowed to create what you want\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a shift in mindset that\u2019s central to \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019. Exploratory and audibly excited, Yard Act\u2019s third is the sound of a band shaking off any shackles of expectation and revelling in the joy of possibility. They might be asking bigger, deeper questions than ever, but the four musicians have also unwittingly provided a possible answer. How do you make sense of a world that increasingly makes no sense at all? You hunker down with your mates, create the most interconnected, enlivened music of your careers and remind everyone just how good it can be when people work together and share the spoils.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMusic and art in general, it\u2019s the third reality you can exist in. The first one is the world physically as we see it. The second is the one in your head, and your thoughts and feelings. And then, when you make something, it lives in that strange third space where, if you do it right, it can shift someone else\u2019s perspective even though you have no control of it. That\u2019s how I feel when I make music; I feel like I\u2019ve escaped reality,\u201d says Smith. Needham nods: \u201cIt\u2019s a world that I trust. I don\u2019t trust the fucking news cycle and the post-truth-ness of all that. I don\u2019t trust my own thoughts sometimes, but I trust artists. I just do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Yard Act\u2019s \u2018You\u2019re Gonna Need A Little Music\u2019 is out on July 17 via Island Records.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.nme.com\/features\/music-interviews\/yard-act-youre-gonna-need-a-little-music-interview-3956687&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/www.nme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/yard-act-interview-credit-james-winstanley.jpg&#8221;] FeaturesMusic Interviews Yard Act on Andy Burnham, capitalism, and the power of art as community: \u201cNigel Farage is a dark entity that must be struck out at all costs\u201d As the Leeds band return with their third, most energised album, they tell NME about keeping their creative priorities straight, the importance of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,78],"class_list":["post-2042626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nme-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2042626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2042626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2042626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2042626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2042626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}