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Yard Act debut new album “You’re Gonna Need A Little Music” in full at surprise Tottenham show
Yard Act played their new album in full at a surprise May 7 show in Tottenham, previewing You're Gonna Need A Little Music ahead of its July 17 release.
Yard Act used a cramped Tottenham warehouse to do what big rollouts usually save for festival headline nights: play an entire new album before anyone else had properly heard it. On Thursday May 7 the Leeds band premiered their forthcoming third record You’re Gonna Need A Little Music from start to finish at Unit 58, a one-off gig shared only with fans on their mailing list.
The announcement of the album earlier that day was paired with the ominous crash of lead single “Redeemer”, and the band leaned into that drama by opening the set with the slow-building stream-of-consciousness of “Empty Pledges”. From there they moved through the record’s curiosities—”New Beginnings” nodding to Beck, the funk-tinged skulking of “Fiction”, and the title track, a piano-forward moment that carried a hint of Pulp in its joy.
Yard Act. CREDIT: JAMES WINSTANLEY @JAMWINSTANLEY
“Cherophobe Rock” arrived with a propulsive, 2000s-indie energy before it fell away into a wonky, Blur-like piano outro. “Thrill Of The Chase” pushed James Smith into a near-rap cadence that felt like the band testing edges they’ve only skirted before. Ahead of “Redeemer” Smith pointed the crowd to the single’s new video—one in which, as he told the room, he shares the screen with a crow. “I was lucky enough to get acquainted with a crow and the handler said I had a way with them, which is true cos I’m friends with four crows,” he quipped, before pointing out members of post-punk band Crows in the audience.
Yard Act. CREDIT: JAMES WINSTANLEY @JAMWINSTANLEY
The record closed on “Talky Talky People” and “Over The Barrel”, the latter sporting a dummy ending that returned to finish with a multi-part harmony. With the gear still in place the band dug into older material—”Dead Horse” from their debut album, early single “Dark Days”—and, after chants from the crowd, came back for an encore of “The Trapper’s Pelts”. The live debut felt congruent with how the album was made: for the first time, Yard Act recorded live in the room together.
On record and in the room
Smith framed the difference to press plainly: “The first two records were both laptop records essentially,” a reference to 2022’s Mercury Prize–nominated The Overload and 2024 follow-up Where’s My Utopia?. For You’re Gonna Need A Little Music the band—completed by bassist Ryan Needham, guitarist Sam Shipstone and drummer Jay Russell—wrote “40 to 50 songs” during an uninterrupted five-month creative period, then recorded the album with Nine Inch Nails bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen between Los Angeles and Leeds.
Yard Act. CREDIT: JAMES WINSTANLEY @JAMWINSTANLEY
The album will be released on July 17 via Island Records. Until then the band are making the record’s arc feel lived-in: the Unit 58 show was a reminder that the songs were conceived for bodies and rooms as much as playlists. There was an intimacy to the fan reaction—£5 tickets and a free T-shirt were part of the night’s allure—and a sense that these new tracks were road-tested before a wider audience even knew what to expect.
Setlist from the Unit 58 performance:
‘Empty Pledges’
‘New Beginnings’
‘Tall Tales’
‘Fiction’
‘You’re Gonna Need a Little Music’
‘Cherophobe Rock’
‘Thrill of the Chase’
‘Janey Said’
‘Redeemer’
‘Talky Talky People’
‘Over The Barrel’
‘Dead Horse’
‘Dark Days’
Encore:
‘The Trapper’s Pelts’
Two fan tweets from the night captured that low-key excitement: “So today it was off to unit 58 To see Yard Act play out their new album in full. Can’t argue for £5 a ticket and a free tee-shirt, had worse Thursday nights” and another showing a crowd shot. pic.twitter.com/Dsl3Dlwu1w — P of the G (@roader71) May 7, 2026
pic.twitter.com/7WZF6yIHdC — P of the G (@roader71) May 7, 2026
Touring and ticketing
Yard Act have also expanded their UK 2026 tour. In addition to previously announced dates in Leeds, Manchester and London they’ve added a hometown show on November 7 plus visits to Newcastle (10), Glasgow (11), Leicester (16), Cambridge (18), Bristol (21) and more.
Early tickets are available by pre-ordering the album here by 10am May 12 or by joining the general pre-sale at 10am on May 13. General sale opens at 10am on May 15; tickets will be available here.
