Leeds outfit Yard Act have shared a new single titled ‘Dark Days’. Give it a listen below.
Talking about the inspiration behind the track, vocalist James Smith explained in a press release: “With “Dark Days” I wrote the first verse and chorus hook quite fast but then I didn’t know how to finish it. The demo Ryan [Needham] sent was ace, real sparse. The drums were really driven but the bassline felt like it was suspended mid-air in the verses, like a dub bassline or something. It created the illusion that you have time to stop and look around amidst the ensuing chaos. It’s like in war films when all the noise stops and you just hear the protagonist’s heavy breathing whilst they survey their surroundings in slow motion. Then the chorus hit with this “Captain Caveman” vibe, it reminded me of that stop-motion cartoon from the 90’s ‘GOGS’ if anyone remembers that? I liked the juxtaposition of the bleak world with the cartoon bass line.”
The track follows a series of singles the group shared in 2020, including ‘Fixer Upper’, ‘The Trapper’s Pelts’, and ‘Peanuts’. “‘Dark Days’ is the last of four singles before we start work on the album, of which none of those songs will be on,” Smith added. “It’s a world-building song, this one, everything we’ve put out so far is from the same universe, which is based on an imagined Yorkshire 100 years in the future. I’m writing a book titled ‘Carboot Man’ which weaves the narratives of those first four songs together and explores the characters from them in greater detail: The Trapper, Graeme and Grace (the woman from Peanuts). Hopefully that’ll be released next year if anyone wants to know more about those people and their lives.”
