Photo credit: Phoebe Fox

Ahead of their upcoming second album Where My Utopia?, due out on 1 March 2024 via Island, Yard Act have this week shared their latest cut, We Make Hits. Yard Act’s James Smith says: “We Make Hits’ started like most Yard Act songs do these days, in Ryan's spare bedroom. He'd recorded a couple of basslines and I went round to throw some words on top just to see what might happen. I was reflecting on how things had changed so much for us over the last few years when I realised that sat round a laptop trying to make each other laugh, necking black coffee and craneing our heads out of the window to smoke cigs every hour or so, all that had really changed within the writing process was that, thanks to my baby, we were at Ryan's house rather than mine and that Ryan had a place of his own now, which was nice. Despite the outside blowing up, behind closed doors, we were the same, and I'm grateful for that. You can see the cynicism and the silliness on the surface of ‘We Make Hits’ without much effort, but at its core, for me, it's really an ode to friendship and the unfiltered joy you feel when you're making music with the people you hold dear in your life. Meanwhile back in the Yardiverse, we're getting the origin story of the hitmen Dynamite Dave and Dudley Sunglasses. A valid parable about the trappings of late capitalism, and the compromises we have to make to survive sometimes.” 

Speaking about the track's video, Slater said: “For ‘We Make Hits’ I took a song which charts the origin story of the band and used it to tell the backstory of two hapless hitmen who upon receiving an eviction notice in their student bedsit embark on a job search which ultimately leads them to gainful employment as assassins for the Holy Global Enterprise. As ever with the Yard Act vids I’ve made, this vid is part of an ever expanding cinematic universe - a continuation of The Visitor’s journey we began with ‘The Trench Coat Museum.” Take a watch for yourselves below.

See Yard Act live in 2024:
29 Feb | Pryzm, Kingston, UK SOLD OUT
01 Mar | Rough Trade, Bristol. UK
03 Mar | Rough Trade East, London, UK
05 Mar | Rough Trade, Nottingham, UK
13 Mar | The Nick Rayns LCR (UEA), Norwich, UK
14 Mar | Rock City, Nottingham , UK
15 Mar | O2 Academy, Glasgow, UK
16 Mar | O2 Apollo, Manchester, UK
17 Mar | Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK
19 Mar | Mandela Hall, Belfast, UK
20 Mar | Vicar Street, Dublin, IE
22 Mar | Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool, UK
23 Mar | O2 Academy, Bristol, UK SOLD OUT
24 Mar | The Great Hall, Cardiff, UK
25 Mar | The Dome, Brighton, UK
27 Mar | Eventim Apollo, London, UK
04 Apr | Stereolux, Nantes, FR
05 Apr | Cabaret Sauvage, Paris, FR
06 Apr | Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux, FR
08 Apr | LAV, Lisbon, PT
09 Apr | Mon, Madrid, ES
11 Apr | La 2, Barcelona, ES
12 Apr | Le Transbordeur, Lyon, FR
13 Apr | Locomotiv Club, Bologna, IT
14 Apr | Santeria Toscana 31, Milan, IT
16 Apr | Mascotte, Zurich, CH
17 Apr | Muffathalle, Munich, DE
18 Apr | Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE
19 Apr | Loppen, Copenhagen, DK
20 Apr | Slaktkyrkan, Stockholm, SE
24 Apr | Uebel & Gefährlich, Hamburg, DE
25 Apr | Paradiso Main Hall, Amsterdam, NL
26 Apr | Doornroosje, Nijmegen,NL
27 Apr | Kantine, Cologne, DE
28 Apr | Les Nuits Botanique, Brussels, BE
30 May | Belly Up Tavern, Solana Beach, CA
31 May | The Regent Theater, Los Angeles, CA
1 Jun | Pappy and Harriet's, Pioneertown, CA
3 Jun | The Catalyst Atrium, Santa Cruz, CA
4 Jun | The Independent, San Francisco, CA
6 Jun | Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR
7 Jun | Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver, BC
8 Jun | The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
3 Aug | Millenium Square, Leeds, UK
10 Aug | Oya Festival, Oslo, NO
12 Aug | Sziget Festival, Budapest, HU
23 Aug | Victorious Festival, Southsea, UK
31 Aug | Meo Kalorama, Lisbon, PT

f: https://www.facebook.com/YardActBand