Yard Act

James Smith from Leeds, UK, rented out his spare room to Ryan Needham in 2019. The two knew each other from the local music scene. It turned out they shared an ambition: to score hits. Which is highly surprising. After all, they loved post-punk and came up with songs about social exclusion and housing deprivation. Not quite hit parade material. But here we are. Their band Yard Act's debut album, The Overload (2022), was nominated for the Mercury Prize. What's more, they recorded the song '100% Endurance' again with new-found fan Elton John. Despite all this, the founders still live in the same decrepit house. This is reflected in Where's My Utopia (2025): just because you achieve what you hoped for doesn't mean your problems have gone away. But they bravely persevere. One of the tracks on the album is called 'We Make Hits'...