04 Dec Yellow Days announces major international tour & album for 2024
Yellow Days has long been recognised as one of the brightest and most forward-thinking stars of British pop. With a voice as captivating as that of his idol, Ray Charles, a songwriting ability which drills into millennial issues of depression and rootlessness, and a pioneer’s desire to seek out new sonic territories, he’s already amassed a global following and a celebrity fan club including fellow mavericks Mac DeMarco, Tyler, The Creator and Tom Waits.
Now Yellow Days gears up for a big year ahead as he announces a major international headline tour which runs from April to July 2024. While he has played select gigs in recent years, it includes his first full UK headline tour since 2018 which includes a landmark London show at KOKO. The news comes as he prepares to unveil his long-awaited third studio album in 2024, which finds him embracing a new rock soul sound informed by the lo-fi aesthetic of Tame Impala, the elastic funk grooves of Sly Stone, and the emotional grit of Plastic Ono Band-era John Lennon.
Yellow Days – real name George van den Broek – says, “Living on Brick Lane, I started hearing the sound of this funny street and me merging together. It sounds like Rock Soul. The sounds of my childhood — The Beatles, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin – but with the love of blues soul acts like Ray Charles and Sam Cooke.
This will be my first time back touring the UK and Europe for nearly five years. After Covid and different complications I could only tour America these past few years so it will be a pleasure to be on the cobbled streets of Europe playing my music again.”
Tickets for the tour will go on sale HERE from 10am this Friday, December 8th.
You may well ask yourself: what has Yellow Days been up to since we last heard from him? Looking back opens a window into his future. Born in Manchester but raised in Haslemere, Surrey, his debut EP ‘Harmless Memories’ — recorded in his parents’ garden shed at 16 — sparked a first wave of excitement ahead of the release of his globally acclaimed 2017 album ‘Is Everything Okay In Your World?’.
His next step was a worldwide deal with Sony. But while industry figures were talking up his chances of his next album being a global smash, Yellow Days was delving into expansive jazz-fusion jams inspired by the likes of Wendell Harrison and Don Blackman. As a consequence, his 2020 follow-up, ‘A Day In A Yellow Beat’ was made with no expense spared – but when the label’s suits looked at the costs involved, they decided that they wouldn’t invest a penny in its promotion.
Yellow Days was plunged into a personal crisis, but eventually he vowed to fight back and prove that the early attention he deserved was well-founded. Last year’s low-key EP ‘Inner Peace’ proved to be the first step back as he focused on crafting his upcoming third record, this time substituting previous recordings in Los Angeles accompanied by some of the world’s greatest sessions musicians with the back-to-basics DIY approach of recording in his flat on Brick Lane, where he played every single instrument and programmed the drums too. What emerged is a new set of songs which looks set to propel him straight back into the spotlight. Stay tuned for more in 2024.
The dates are:
APRIL
9th – UK, Manchester, Band on the Wall
10th – UK, Glasgow, St. Luke’s
11th – UK, Bristol, Trinity
12th – UK, London, KOKO
18th – The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Melkweg
19th – Belgium, Antwerp, Trix
20th – France, Paris, La Trabendo
21st – Germany, Cologne, CBE
23rd – Germany, Berlin, Lido
24th – Germany, Hamburg, Mojo Club
27th – USA, Dallas, Deep Ellum Art Co.
28th – USA, Austin, The Far Out Lounge
30th – USA, Solana Beach, Belly Up
MAY
2nd – USA, Los Angeles, Lodge Room HLP
3rd – USA, Los Angeles, Lodge Room HLP
4th – USA, Pioneertown, Pappy + Harriet’s
5th – USA, San Francisco, The Independent
7th – USA, Seattle, The Crocodile
8th – Canada, Vancouver, Hollywood Theatre
9th – USA, Portland, Aladdin Theater
11th – USA, Salt Lake City, Kilby Block Party
12th – USA, Denver, The Bluebird Theater
14th – USA, St. Paul, Turf Club
15th – USA, Chicago, Thalia Hall
17th – USA, Ferndale, The Loving Touch
18th – Canada, Toronto, The Opera House
20th – USA, Brooklyn, Elsewhere – Hall
JUNE
27th – USA, Washington, Union Stage
28th – USA, Washington, Union Stage
29th – USA, Cambridge, The Sinclair
JULY
3rd – Canada, Montreal, Club Soda
