Yard Act - You're Gonna Need A Little Music Review
Darker, funnier and more vulnerable than ever, Yard Act find hope hiding in the mess of modern life.
In times of unprecedented heatwaves and bonkers politics worldwide, you can rely on Yard Act to really hammer home the harsh reality of existing in modern times. Where their first album focused on tales of life under capitalism and their second on the futility of fame above all else, You’re Gonna Need A Little Music finds James Smith ultimately questioning how the rise of individualism has pushed us further and further away from one another but still, we should still have a tiny sliver of hope that it all works out in the end. Simultaneously, it’s the group’s darkest yet most playful effort to date.
To stand up three albums in and admit you still haven’t a clue what you’re doing is a bold move but it’s one that feels distinctively Yard Act. You’d think by now James Smith would be miles away from the world of impostor syndrome but across the album, he reminds us all that you can be a person with fame and still not be sure that you quite deserve the path that sprawls ahead of you. ‘Empty Pledges’ is driven by self doubt over the sound of anxiety inducing crashing drums and gloomy piano all the while, Smith’s wit and humour remains as he begs the question of whether ‘they’ know who The Wedding Present’s David Gedge is. Tensions continue to rise on ‘Redeemer’, there’s a ferocity that exists here that you’d be hard pressed to find on their previous efforts.
The first album they’ve made all four of them in a studio together, the sonic landscape jumps from genre to genre but they aren’t trying to be the next best whoever and it’s a shift that works surprisingly well. The title track is probably the most fun the group have ever sounded whilst there’s something dizzyingly early-2000’s rock sounding about ‘Cheraphobe Rock’.
This record finds Smith going deeper than ever, he writes from a personal place but not to the point where the lyrics become an unrelatable experience for the listener. He leaves us with the opportunity for interpretation or the chance to apply the things he’s feeling to our own experiences. There’s an unusual character that continually pops up in the form of Janey, Smith’s alter-ego who represents that tiny voice shouting all the ifs, buts and maybes of every situation life throws at him. She lies at the centre of one of the album’s standouts ‘Janey Said’ where the singer muses over his worries about the future of his career and ultimately finds himself wondering if he should be doing more because like most creative careers, it’s becoming harder than ever to make it a viable thing no matter how successful you seem to the outside world. Somehow, even in the middle of what is also probably one of the group’s saddest songs yet he manages to sneak in some humour as he quips ‘Probably get a good song from this’.
It wouldn’t be a Yard Act album if they didn’t close with a track that genuinely makes you believe everything is going to be okay despite the state of the world. ‘Over The Barrel’ is equal parts as silly as it is optimistic with its funky melody that combines piano and indie rock to result in something totally epic. Ultimately, there couldn’t be a more fitting title for this album than You’re Going To Need A Little Music because throughout it, there is the reminder that no matter what your brain tells you or the circumstances of the outside world, music is always the best medicine.