Yard Act launch campaign for ‘New Beginnings’ to soundtrack England’s World Cup victory: “We’ve got to keep manifesting”
As the World Cup enters the knock-out stages, Yard Act are hoping that their new single, ‘New Beginnings’, will be the soundtrack to England’s tournament success.
Released last week, as the second single to be taken from their upcoming third album, You’re Gonna Need A Little Music, ‘New Beginnings’ is not an overtly football-focused track. However, frontman James Smith has affirmed his desire for the song to become an unofficial anthem for the England squad at this year’s World Cup.
During a new interview with Far Out, the songwriter shared, “We’ve, completely by chance, banked on ‘New Beginnings’ soundtracking England’s World Cup victory.” Adding, “We’re really hoping it gets used on the highlights. We’ve got to keep manifesting.”
He went on to hark back to England’s previous failures in major tournaments, recalling when The Streets provided a fitting soundtrack to the heartbreak of Euro 2004. “You know like when ‘Dry Your Eyes’ soundtracked the loss? If ‘New Beginnings’ can soundtrack the winning.”
The single certainly has the kind of self-deprecating optimism that has fuelled other English World Cup anthems, such as ‘Three Lions’, which Smith declared as “the best football song, obviously.”
“That’s why I’m invested in England this tournament, just because I really want ‘New Beginnings’ to be a World Cup anthem,” Smith facetiously explained, envisioning a near-future in which England make it through to the latter stages tournament.
“If it goes to penalties in the quarter-finals, they’ve got to use ‘New Beginnings’,” he said, joking, “All the lyrics just vaguely match, and I knew that when I was writing it [laughs].”
Whether or not Yard Act’s hopes to define the sound of England’s World Cup journey comes to fruition remains to be seen, with England set to take on DR Congo in their first knock-out game this evening at Atlanta Stadium.
Far Out’s full interview with Yard Act will be released shortly.
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