Forever Five: James Smith (Yard Act)

Waxx Lyrical
7 days ago
3 min read

Ever wondered what albums sit atop your favourite artists’ turntables? Forever Five is a Waxx Lyrical series spotlighting the five records that shaped the artists we love most. No rankings, no essays — just the albums that live closest to their hearts. Come for the choices, stay for the typically remarkable playlist that follows — woven from their picks and their own catalogue — culminating in a fascinating little mini music lesson every time.

JAMES SMITH (YARD ACT)

💬 Sharp-tongued poet. Fearless frontman. Unflinching observer.

🎸 A Leeds lad with soul, sarcasm and stories to spare.

🪩 His words cut, his humour heals, and his music dances somewhere between despair and joy.

🔥 Equal parts punk spirit and postmodern empathy — the real deal, through and through.

Waxx Lyrical's Forever Five with James Smith of Yard Act — Photo: **@tomavistasfest**

James Smith is not only the kinetic frontman of Leeds' Yard Act — he’s a massive music fan. Sensitive, outspoken and outright lovable, he wears his heart on his sleeve and speaks proudly of his musical favourites. We’ve watched him in a record shop, flipping through vinyl not like a rock star who fronts one of Britain’s finest bands, but like a huAPmble fan still learning, still searching.

His own music spans sounds and skips genres, but the voice is central, the message is real, and the fire is genuine. His Forever Five picks reflect a deep understanding of music full stop — and the emotional charge that keeps it alive. Each choice feels intentional, not just for how it sounds but for what it says. You can sense the through-line from his selections to Yard Act’s own world: wit sharpened by empathy, groove laced with grit, and storytelling that stings because it’s true.

James Smith’s Forever Five is a masterclass in taste — the kind that reminds you why music matters in the first place.

Forever Five Kris Sch

LISTEN — JAMES SMITH'S FOREVER FIVE

A trio of tracks from each of his choices, plus an essential five tracks of his own.

The resulting playlist flows like a mini music history lesson.

James Smith’s Forever Five

APHRODITE’S CHILD — 666 (1972)

A wild, biblical fever dream — part prog opera, part psychedelic meltdown. It’s messy, mystical, and magnificently over-the-top; the kind of record that rewards obsession and invites madness in equal measure. You can feel James’ fascination with chaos and conviction burning through it.

PETER GABRIEL — Melt (1980)

Restless art-pop genius meets human frailty. Gabriel’s third solo record is all tension and texture — paranoid, political, and painfully personal. It’s the sound of reinvention, of finding purpose in fear.

JOHN COLTRANE — Live at Birdland (1964)

Spirit and discipline entwined. Coltrane leads a band at full transcendence, reaching for something bigger than notes or time signatures. There’s fury here, but also grace — the same duality you hear when James delivers a lyric with both bite and belief.

BECK — Mutations (1998)

Slacker introspection dressed up in beauty and melancholy. Beck at his most human — reflective, melodic, quietly surreal. A record that meanders between folk, psychedelia, and sadness, never needing to raise its voice to make a point.

NINA SIMONE — At the Village Gate (1962)

The voice of truth itself. Simone’s live set is both intimate and revolutionary — soft as prayer one minute, defiant as protest the next. James has long championed empathy and honesty in song, and it doesn’t get more real than this.