Yard Act have revealed that they are currently in the studio working on their third album with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen.
The Leeds band released their second record ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ in March 2024 and have been touring steadily in the time since, but now they have confirmed that they are working in Nave Studio in their hometown on their next LP.
Posting on Instagram this week, they wrote: “Hello from @nave_studios, where we’re making the greatest third album any band has ever recorded, with our new pal @justinmeldaljohnsen.”
They also made reference to BBC Radio 6 Music’s ‘T-Shirt Day’ celebration of vintage artist tees, showing off their respective Kurt Vile, Bad Brains, Napalm Death, Nuha Ruby Ra and Bill Nelson t-shirts. “YALP3 will be the sweet spot between Napalm Death and Bill Nelson,” they quipped.
Yard Act co-produced ‘Where’s My Utopia?’ with Remi Kabaka Jr, who is best known as the drummer and producer for Gorillaz, but as they have revealed, this time around they are working alongside Meldal-Johnsen.
The American musician and producer served as the musical director for Beck from 1996 until 2016 and played as a touring bassist, guitarist and keyboardist for Nine Inch Nails in 2008 and 2009. He has also worked as a musical director for St. Vincent since 2021 and in 2023, he resumed touring with Beck.
As a producer, he has worked on a number of high profile projects, including M83’s ‘Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming’ (2011), Wolf Alice’s ‘Visions Of A Life’ (2017), Deafheaven’s ‘Infinite Granite’ (2021) and St. Vincent’s ‘All Born Screaming’ (2024).
Before the end of the year, Yard Act will serve as the opening act on The Hives’ UK and European tour, which kicks off in Oslo on October 17 and includes shows in Cardiff, Glasgow, Manchester and London at the end of November. See the full list of dates here and find any remaining tickets here.
In a four-star review of ‘Where’s My Utopia?’, NME wrote: “In between samples from their comedy pals – standups Nish Kumar and Rose Matafeo – and references to all sorts of uniquely British phenomena: from ‘Fizzy Fish’ to Calpol and, er, Milton Keynes. Where’s My Utopia?’ marks an outlandish yet assertive second chapter for Yard Act, going toe-to-toe with the peculiar world that we find ourselves in.”