The Overload
2022 studio album by Yard Act

The Overload is the debut studio album by British rock band Yard Act. The album was released on 21 January 2022 through Island Records. The album was nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize.
01Background and recording
The album was written and recorded in 2021.
02Release and promotion
Singles
Five singles were released on The Overload from late 2021 to early 2022. The self-titled track, "The Overload" was released on 7 September 2021. The second single, "Land of the Blind", was released on 28 October 2021. "Payday" was released on 23 November 2021. The two 2022 singles were "Rich" and "Pour Another".
Music videos
Corresponding with the single, the music video for the track "The Overload" was released on the band's Vevo on 7 September 2021. The video features the band performing at a Car Boot Sale. The video was directed by James Slater. Slater also directed the music videos for their second and fourth singles, "Land of the Blind" and "Rich", respectively. In an interview with DIY, lead singer James Smith notes, "I had the idea for a music video in which a magician does tricks but everybody keeps applauding. I thought it was too on the nose to be a decent satire but I’ve been subtle in the past and nobody has picked up on it so this time I thought we would just be blunt. James [Slater] developed the idea and came up with the concept of the magician holding the cafe hostage via hypnosis."
03Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.2/10 |
| Metacritic | 85/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Clash | 9/10 |
| The Daily Telegraph | |
| DIY | |
| Dork | |
| The Guardian | |
| The Irish Times | |
| MusicOMH | |
| NME | |
| Pitchfork | 7.4/10 |
| Under the Radar | 9/10 |
The Overload received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. On review aggregator website, Metacritic, The Overload has an average rating of 85 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim" based on 17 critic reviews. Additionally, on AnyDecentMusic? the album holds an 8.2 out of 10 rating.
04Track listing
All tracks are written by James Smith, Ryan Needham, Sam Shipstone, and Jay Russell.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Overload" | 3:17 |
| 2. | "Dead Horse" | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Payday" | 2:54 |
| 4. | "Rich" | 3:43 |
| 5. | "The Incident" | 3:10 |
| 6. | "Witness (Can I Get A?)" | 1:21 |
| 7. | "Land of the Blind" | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Quarantine the Sticks" | 2:40 |
| 9. | "Tall Poppies" | 6:21 |
| 10. | "Pour Another" | 3:20 |
| 11. | "100% Endurance" | 3:45 |
| Total length: | 37:09 | |
05Charts
| Chart (2022) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 89 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 148 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts) | 1 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts) | 2 |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “The Overload”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- The Overload - Yard Act.jpg by Unknown author, Fair use
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.