Vera Farmiga Fronted Alt Rock Band "THE YAGAS" To Release Full Album "MIDNIGHT MINUET" In April

Photo credit: Franco Vogt (IG: @franco.vogt)

Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring Universe) and her band “The Yagas” are bringing their spooky, cool alt-rock vibes with the brand new album “Midnight Minuet” and we have all the news about that and the brand new single “Life Of A Widow” below.

We’ve been eager to hear more from Vera Farmiga and “The Yagas” after we first let you know about the group back in 2024 when they released their first single, “The Crying Room.” It was a haunting song that truly left us with feelings of loss and tragedy. The new album, “Midnite Minuet” is sure to be more of the same, and we couldn’t be happier that we get to bring you the news that the album is dropping on April 25th.

FROM THE PRESS RELEASE:

Alt rock band The Yagas, fronted by Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress Vera Farmiga, has officially announced the details for their debut full-length album, Midnight Minuet, out independently Friday, April 25th. Alongside the album news, The Yagas – also featuring Renn Hawkey of Deadsy (keys), Jason Bowman (drums), Mark Visconti (guitar) and Mike Davis (bass) – have released their new single “Life Of A Widow,” an explosive yet luminous portrait of anticipatory grief, sparked from an oddly hypnotic beat constructed by Hawkey after awaking from spinal surgery.

“‘Life Of A Widow’ is a song of searing lament. It’s a song of embodying that ol’ prodigious saying, ‘Why has thou forsaken me?’,” shares Farmiga. “The song is aching to feel the presence of a deceased loved one. It’s a soul’s journey of yearning, pleading to crack the unbearable silence of solitude, that Vantablack void, just to hear your love’s voice once again, to feel your love’s touch again. The protagonist in our song wanders through her misery, she navigates through mad midnight moments of throbbing despair. She begs to feel less alone. She demands to feel the presence of her lost love. And she won’t stop wailing until he’s there. It’s about taking those sudden, violent jabs of red-hot grief, feeling pummeled and clobbered by desperation and crying out to the dearly departed for help and re-connection.”

“Producing Midnight Minuet was very cathartic for me,” adds Hawkey. “I felt the need to prove to myself that I could make great music outside of Deadsy, which, for the past 25 years, had been my only writing/recording partnership. This was a very different creative experience for me. I often felt in Deadsy like I was playing in someone else’s playground – I knew the rules, I mastered the slide and the monkey bars, but I felt like a visitor. Midnight Minuet just felt different. The Yagas built a new playground together, made up of our respective life experiences with equal ownership. We are the sum of our parts. When this kind of synergy exists, you grab it, nurture it, and give it a life.”

LISTEN TO “LIFE OF A WIDOW” BY THE YAGAS BELOW

“The Yagas” make brilliant use of vocoder-enhanced vocals, pummeling guitar riffs, and viscerally chilling effects to fully immerse the listener in a brutal but exhilarating tale of violence and vengeance.

Throughout the forthcoming 10-song collection – mixed by GRAMMY® nominee Brian Virtue (Deftones, 30 Seconds to Mars) and mastered by GRAMMY® winner Emily Lazar (Beck, Coldplay) – The Yagas adorn even the darkest moments with unexpected bursts of ineffable beauty and, in sharing their debut body of work with the world, aim to further their namesake’s legacy in their own ultimately benevolent way. Full track listing for Midnight Minuet below.

Midnight Minuet Track Listing

1.  The Crying Room

2.  I Am

3.  Life Of A Widow

4.  Anhedonia

5.  Pendulum

6.  Charade

7.  Bridle

8.  Pullover

9.  She’s Walking Down

10.  Midnight Minuet

The New York-based band, who made their live debut earlier this month, will next perform Saturday, April 5th at Bowery Ballroom in New York City as a special guest at the Casa Gogol Records Presents: NEW NEW YORK event. PRESS HERE for tickets.

It looks like we will have to wait for a few California dates to be announced to catch “The Yagas” live, but if you’re on the East Coast, do yourself a favor and check them out.

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