Yard Act have announced their new album Where’s My Utopia?, out March 1st via Republic. Along with the news comes the record’s lead single “Dream Job,” as well as an extensive run of 2024 tour dates in North America and Europe.
Written in the middle of tour as they watched their own rise to rock stardom, Where’s My Utopia? sees Yard Act incorporate influences ranging from Afrobeat to film scores to EDM. It’s billed as “a giant leap forward into broad and playful new sonic waters” for the Leeds band, who intersperse their recordings with strings, choirs, and even voice-acting clips.
“The main reason that ‘post-punk’ was the vehicle for Album One was because it was really affordable to do, but we always liked so much other music and this time we’ve had the confidence to embrace it,” vocalist James Smith explains in a press release. Pre-orders for Where’s My Utopia? are ongoing.
The groovy “Dream Job” embodies the millennial ennui of realizing that even your most ideal work scenario is still work at the end of the day. “I was scrutinizing and mocking myself for being a moaning ungrateful little brat, whilst also trying to address how the music industry is this rather uncontrollable beast,” Smith adds. “Trying to find the right time to articulate the complexity of emotions I was feeling and the severity to which I was feeling them couldn’t be found — or accommodated, so instead I tried to capture it in a pop song that lasts less than three minutes once the fog had cleared a bit. It’s good and bad. I’m still glad that everything that happened to me happened.”
After finishing up their previously-announced shows in North America, Iceland, and Asia the rest of this year, Yard Act will resume their live dates in the UK on March 13th, playing around the globe before wrapping up with a hometown show in Leeds this August. The newly-announced shows go on sale October 27th at 10:00 a.m. local time, while all other shows are on sale now; find your tickets to the North American shows here, and for all international dates, find tickets here.
Listen to “Dream Job” below, and then keep scrolling to see the details for Where’s My Utopia? and all Yard Act’s upcoming tour dates.
Yard Act’s last LP was their 2022 debut The Overload.
Where’s My Utopia? Artwork:
Where’s My Utopia? Tracklist:
01. An Illusion
02. We Make Hits
03. Down by the Stream
04. The Undertow
05. Dream Job
06. Fizzy Fish
07. Petroleum
08. When the Laughter Stops (feat. Katy J Pearson)
09. Grifter’s Grief
10. Blackpool Illuminations
11. A Vineyard for the North
Yard Act 2023-2024 Tour Dates:
11/02 – Reykjavik, IS @ Iceland Airwaves
11/04 – Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
11/05 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
11/06 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
11/07 – Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall
11/09 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
11/10 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
11/11 – New Orleans, LA @ Toulouse Theatre
11/14 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk
11/15 – Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Company
11/17 – Mexico City, MX @ Corona Capital Festival
12/02 – Bangkok, TH @ Maho Rasop Festival
12/03 – Hong Kong, HK @ Clockenflap Festival
12/05 – Osaka, JP @ Shangri-la
12/07 – Tokyo, JP @ Club Quattro
03/13 – Norwich, UK @ The Nick Rayns LCR (UEA)
03/14 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
03/15 – Glasgow, UK @ O2 Academy
03/16 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Apollo
03/17 – Newcastle, UK @ Northumbria University
03/19 – Belfast, UK @ Mandela Hall
03/20 – Dublin, IE @ Vicar Street
03/22 – Liverpool, UK @ Invisible Wind Factory
03/23 – Bristol, UK @ O2 Academy
03/25 – Brighton, UK @ The Dome
03/27 – London, UK @ Eventim Apollo
04/04 – Nantes, FR @ Stereolux
04/05 – Paris, FR @ Cabaret Sauvage
04/06 – Bordeaux, FR @ Rock School Barbey
04/08 – Lisbon, PT @ LAV
04/09 – Madrid, ES @ Mon
04/11 – Barcelona, ES @ La 2
04/12 – Lyon, FR @ Le Transbordeur
04/13 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
04/14 – Milan, IT @ Santeria Toscana 31
04/16 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte
04/17 – Munich, DE @ Muffathalle
04/18 – Berlin, DE @ Festsaal Kreuzberg
04/20 – Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan
04/24 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefährlich
04/25 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Main Hall
04/26 – Nijmegen, NL @ Doornroosje
04/27 – Cologne, DE @ Kantine
04/28 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Botanique
05/30 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern
05/31 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
06/01 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriet’s
06/03 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium
06/04 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
06/06 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
06/07 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
06/08 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
08/03 – Leeds, UK @ Millenium Square
