The sophomore album from Yellow Days (born George van den Broek), ‘A Day in A Yellow Beat,’ was just released via RCA Records a couple of weeks ago to much anticipation. Incorporating what he describes as “ironic dance music” inspired by the 70s fusion-era works of Herbie Hancock and Quincy Jones, the funkier phases of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield, along with jazz-funk keyboard legends Don Blackman and Weldon Irvine. Of these influences, van den Broek acknowledges, “in the musical community right now internationally, I’d say there’s a lot of people listening to Herbie. There’s something going on right now. You’ve got Kamaal Williams (aka Henry Wu), Anderson Paak, Cory Henry and Tom Misch. There’s something going on where the musical community is like couldn’t we pick up where we left off in 1978 or 1976 and act like nothing happened?” The album includes previously-released singles “The Curse” featuring Mac DeMarco, “Getting Closer,” “You,” “Love is Everywhere” and “Treat You Right”. Yellow Days spent a lot of time writing and recording the album in LA with a host of artists and musicians, while overseeing the production process. He stated, “This is really my first record where I can let it f*ing all out.”
George van den Broek spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar about the new album, how taking an optimistic approach to songwriting informed the music, the influences of Herbie Hancock and other 70s legends and more. Check out the interview:
