After the sprawling concept of Hotel Heaven, Yellow Days strips things back with ‘Celebrate You Girl’, a new single that reclaims the simple pleasures of love, sunshine, and falsetto-soaked soul.
The track is the first of several new releases arriving in the coming weeks, and serves as a mellow reset for the artist, also known as George Van den Broek. Laced with laid-back ‘70s R&B textures and a sun-drenched sense of ease, it marks a departure from the existential themes of A Day In A Yellow Beat, instead revelling in a more personal kind of joy.
“’Celebrate You Girl’ is an ode to my newly-wed wife,” George explains. “We’ve been together since we were 16 and recently got married. I wanted to write a happy love song that says how proud I am of her… She’s my childhood sweetheart and now my wife.”
Written and produced solo in his Mare Street studio, the track carries that intimate feel throughout, right down to its recording process. It’s also the first hint of a steady run of new material from Yellow Days this year.
Next on the agenda is a special rooftop show to mark Record Store Day at Broadwick Soho on 12th April, presented in association with Soho Radio. George will perform alongside a cast of friends and collaborators including Lex Fransche, Laura Quinn, Al Finch & The Trousers, and Peach Juice. He’ll also release a vinyl-only Friends EP, available exclusively at the event.
It’s a familiar pivot for an artist known for refusing to repeat himself. From his teenage debut Harmless Melodies to 2020’s genre-hopping A Day In A Yellow Beat, and then onto the surreal, theatrical Hotel Heaven, Yellow Days has carved out a path entirely on his own terms.
That journey looks set to continue (with less conceptual flourish this time, but no less feeling).
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