The rising British rock band Yard Act have been named “most booked emerging act across European Festivals” by the ESNS Exchange in their rundown of the most promising European acts of the moment. With no less than 11 ESNS approved festival bookings to their name, it seems the 4 piece band from Leeds are favourites amongst European festival bookers this year, with acts like Wet Leg, Ukrainian rapper Alyona Alyona, CMAT, and Holly Humberstone following close behind.
The non-profit organisation ESNS was founded in 2003 as a means of stimulating the circulation of European music across the continent and beyond, gathering data on artists gaining momentum and organising the annual Eurosonic Noorderslag festival in Groningen (Netherlands) to feature only European bands and artists.
.@YardActBand most booked upcoming European act of this summer
The ESNS Exchange results provide an overview of the most promising European emerging acts of the moment.Read all about it at https://t.co/Sk2vvOseSG
— ESNS (@esns) June 15, 2022
Yard Act have been on a fearsome tear since they emerged in January 2021 with their debut EP Dark Days. They immediately struck a chord with me when I first tuned in, an exciting blend of Arctic Monkeys and The Streets, lead singer and lyricist James Smith has a knack for instantly driving an engaging and thought provoking narrative with his erudite northern charisma and flow. Lamenting the woes of social injustice, capitalism, and gentrification with dark humour and cynical storytelling, they manage to remain challenging without ever sounding preachy. A very difficult feat to summit, and likely why so many live agents and promoters are gagging at the bit to book them at the moment.
Their debut album The Overload came out on Island Records on the 21st of January this year and debuted at No.2 on the UK Albums Chart, eventually going to No.1 in Scotland and helping the band to get shortlisted for a much desired place on the BBC’s Sound Of 2022 poll. It’s no surprise really with all the aforementioned originality and flair, they seem to be having an underground cultural impact, alongside the likes of Wet Leg, that not many UK bands have managed in a while. With a headline performance on the Left Field stage at Glastonbury booked for next weekend, it seems there’s no end in sight to their momentum at the moment and we here at Mxdwn UK wish them well. It’s nice to see an indie band making a proper splash again. You can check out their lead single “The Overload” here:
