Over the course of last year, the Leeds group Yard Act started to generate some buzz on a series of singles dropped through 2020. There was the sardonic “Fixer Upper,” the moodier “The Trapper’s Pelts,” and the frayed “Peanuts,” all featuring talk-sing social commentary over various post-punk stylings. Today, they’re back with another one.

Yard Act’s latest is called “Dark Days.” Once more, vocalist James Smith drawls and spits his way through the verses, before the band joins in for a brash singalong chorus. Here’s what Smith had to say about the inspiration behind the song:

With “Dark Days” I wrote the first verse and chorus hook quite fast but then I didn’t know how to finish it. The demo Ryan [Needham] sent was ace, real sparse. The drums were really driven but the bassline felt like it was suspended mid-air in the verses, like a dub bassline or something. It created the illusion that you have time to stop and look around amidst the ensuing chaos. It’s like in war films when all the noise stops and you just hear the protagonist’s heavy breathing whilst they survey their surroundings in slow motion. Then the chorus hit with this “Captain Caveman” vibe, it reminded me of that stop-motion cartoon from the 90’s ‘GOGS’ if anyone remembers that? I liked the juxtaposition of the bleak world with the cartoon bass line.

Despite all the advances humanity has made, the threat of devolving feels increasingly possible in the modern world, and on my bad days when I’m spiraling I can’t help but get trapped in my own head envisioning this post-apocalyptic future we’re seemingly headed toward, so fuck knows why I decided to watch Children Of Men when I was feeling like that. If I’d fully remembered what happened in it, I don’t think I would’ve in the middle of a pandemic, but I did, and I actually came away feeling really uplifted by the ending. I saw hope in it, and it helped me finish the story.

Check it out below.