YES, who are Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood, release their new studio album “The Quest” on Inside Out Music / Sony Music on 1st October 2021. Today the band has revealed the second single to be taken from the album — “Dare to Know”. Watch the video below.
“’Dare To Know’ presents a guitar theme played within many different arrangements, with different chord structures and altered textures,” says Steve Howe. “The ‘idea’ mentioned in the first verse gets described later as an awakening to the subtle goings on within our bodies and mind, all geared to nature’s scheme of things, all fluctuating and rearranging according to the principles of life, as we know it. The centrepiece leaves the orchestra alone to elaborate and develop the way the theme is heard, then augments the closing minutes of the song as it rests, with an acoustic guitar cadenza.”
Much of the music for “The Quest” was “written in late 2019 with the rest in 2020,” says Howe. “We commissioned several orchestrations to augment and enhance the overall sound of these fresh new recordings, hoping that our emphasis on melody, coupled with some expansive instrumental solo breaks, keeps up the momentum for our listeners.”
“The Quest” is also now available for pre-order on various formats, including a limited deluxe box set that features a gatefold 180g 2LP on exclusive colored vinyl, 2CD+Blu-ray digipak (featuring 5.1 mix and backing tracks), 36-page perfect bound booklet, enamel pin badge, 60x90cm poster, slipmat and hand-numbered certificate of authenticity, all house in a rigid lift-off box. Pre-order it HERE.
“The Quest” was recorded across the globe. The sessions took place in the U.K. with Howe, Downes and Davison, while White and Sherwood got together in the studio in the U.S. “Billy Sherwood and myself did all the rhythm sections, bass and drum, in America,” says White, “down in Los Angeles at Uncle Studios, where he works a lot. It helps when you’ve got a good place to work,” Alan laughs, “and Billy‘s really good on the recording desk, so we got things down relatively quickly. I spent quite a while studying the music before I went down to L.A. so I was prepared.”
For half a century, YES has been the definitive band of the progressive music genre, the band by which all others are judged. Their groundbreaking albums of the 1970s set the standard for the genre and influenced countless others who followed in their wake.
The current lineup of YES was completed in 2015 when Sherwood replaced founder member Chris Squire, at Squire‘s insistence, as he bravely fought a losing battle with leukemia. Since then, YES has concentrated on touring with their Album Series tours, each featuring a classic YES album in its entirety. During this period, YES has released three live albums, “Topographic Drama – Live Across America” (2017), “Yes Live 50” (2019) and “The Royal Affair Tour: Live In Las Vegas” (2020).
“The Quest” – 2CD Digipak tracklisting:
CD 1:
- The Ice Bridge 7.01
- Dare To Know 6.00
- Minus The Man 5.35
- Leave Well Alone 8.06
- The Western Edge 4.26
- Future Memories 5.08
- Music To My Ears 4.41
- A Living Island 6.52
CD 2:
- Sister Sleeping Soul 4.51
- Mystery Tour 3.33
- Damaged World 5.20
“The Quest” Physical Formats:
- Limited Edition Deluxe 2LP & 2CD plus Blu-ray Box-set
- Limited Edition 2CD & Blu-ray Artbook
- Gatefold 2LP & 2CD plus LP and booklet
- 2CD Digipak
- Digital Album
The cover artwork for “The Quest” was designed and created by the band’s long term collaborator Roger Dean.
