Yard Act and Elton John by Rachel Paley
“From the first moment I heard Yard Act, I fell in love with James’ lyrics, and the way he’s delivered the song,” Elton John has said.
Yard Act have recorded a new version of 100% Endurance with Elton John.
The standout from this year’s debut album The Overload now has the inimitable backing vocals and piano from their number one famous fan, brought together by producer Ali Chant.
“Within our camp we have a saying: ‘Mad shit happens when you do art’ – it means what it means,” James Smith explained. “You make stuff because you want to make it, and you throw stuff you’ve made into the world because you’d rather share it than not and then you leave it alone and let it do its thing.”
“That thing you did can take you to places you didn’t intend to go with it, but it’s out of your control really. You have no control over the mad shit. It just happens (when you do art).”
“Elton John saw our stuff and he started telling the press he thought we were good and then we chatted on the phone and after a few calls I said ‘Elton, do you want to come to the studio and play piano on a tune?’ because, fuck it, it doesn’t matter if he says no. Anyway, he said ‘yes’, so it doesn’t matter that he didn’t say no. I don’t know what else to say. He’s brilliant. Switched on, hilarious and an amazing musician.”