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Sep 08, 2021 By Joey Arnone

English rock group Yard Act have signed to Island Records, subsequently announcing the release of their debut album The Overload. The band has also shared a video for the title track directed by James Slater (Major Lazer, Pale Waves). The Overload will be out on January 7, 2022 via Island and the band’s own imprint label Zen F.C. Check out the new video below along with the album’s tracklist and cover art.

“Lyrically, I think it’s a record about the things that we all do—we’re all so wired into the system of day to day that we don’t really stop and think about the constructs that define us,” states frontman James Smith. “But also beyond that, it’s kind of exciting, because there’s still so much we don’t understand; how a hive mindset is forged, how information spreads, how we agree and presume things without thinking. Some people think more than others, but a lot of this sloganeering—‘I’m on the left, I’m not wrong’—doesn’t achieve anything. I find it all so boring. I’m just not into that.”

He adds, regarding the new song: “We all succumb to fear most of the time, and it explains a lot about why we make the decisions we do. I imagine the chorus delivered by a Greek chorus; omnipresent, and encompassing the themes of not only this song, but the whole album. That’s what ‘The Overload’ is essentially. It’s everything happening at once, and it’s our tiny, feeble minds trying to process and cope with it. Good luck.”

Yard Act consists of Smith in addition to Ryan Needham (bass), Sam Shjipstone (guitar), and Jay Russell (drums). Their debut EP, Dark Days, was released earlier this year.

The Overload Tracklist:

1. The Overload
2. Dead Horse
3. Payday
4. Rich
5. The Incident
6. Witness (Can I Get A?)
7. Land Of The Blind
8. Quarantine The Sticks
9. Tall Poppies
10. Pour Another
11. 100% Endurance

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