by Geoff Bailie

After 58 years, 24 studio albums, and a catalogue that helped define progressive rock, how should we approach a new album by Yes? The 2025 USA Fragile Tour programme described Yes as a band who “constantly evolve and create a sound unlike anyone else’s”, with each member bringing “exceptional skill and a distinctive style to the shared vision”. So does Aurora deliver against that definition?

The current – and now longest-standing – line-up has barely paused for breath since the release of The Quest in late 2021. Mirror to the Sky followed in 2023, with Jay Schellen stepping fully into the drum role after the passing of Alan White, and many fans felt that album represented another step forward. All the while, the band toured the world performing classic Yes albums, deep cuts, and newer material with real conviction. And so to Aurora, the third Yes studio album released through Inside Out Music – and, for me, the strongest album of the Jon Davison era so far.

What sets Aurora apart is that it finally sounds like a fully unified band rather than a collection of exceptional musicians preserving a legacy. The last two albums certainly had strong moments, but perhaps felt a little cautious. Here there’s a greater willingness to embrace contrasting moods and unexpected musical turns, while still sounding unmistakably like Yes. Add to that a rhythm section that feels genuinely locked in, Geoff Downes’ keyboards pushed much further forward in the mix, and the increasingly rich vocal blend developing between Jon Davison, Steve Howe, and Billy Sherwood, and you have an album with far more personality and confidence.

When we spoke to Jon Davison recently, he attributed some of that evolution to the way this album was created. Mirror to the Sky had begun while Alan White was still alive, with Jay Schellen joining partway through the process. Aurora, by contrast, was shaped by all five members from start to finish — and you can hear the difference.

The album opens magnificently. Downes’ piano, joined by Paul K Joyce’s orchestration, creates a cinematic opening that genuinely feels like the start of an event. If you ever wanted a Yes intro tape for a live show, surely this is it! Repeated listens reveal recurring motifs and clever musical callbacks throughout the opening title track, along with an impressive variety of keyboard and guitar textures. The arrangement keeps evolving without ever losing momentum.

Then comes “Turnaround Situation,” which captures the “complex simplicity” that has always sat at the heart of great Yes music. Strong harmonies, Hammond organ, and Howe’s signature guitar riffing suddenly give way to one of the album’s first genuinely surprising moments: Steve delivers a beautifully loose jazz-style solo, but played on nylon-string guitar. It’s completely unexpected and absolutely right for the song. The middle section – piano, slide steel guitar, and a quietly superb rhythm section underneath – is another reminder of how well this line-up now functions as an ensemble.

“Love Lies Dreaming” shifts the mood again. Sherwood’s bass work in the introduction is excellent, and the song provides one of the album’s more reflective moments without losing the richness of the arrangements around it. One of the album’s biggest strengths is the sheer variety of sounds it contains. Acoustic guitars, layers of keyboards, orchestration, unusual guitar tones – all of it feels carefully considered without becoming over-produced. The mix is particularly impressive, giving every instrument space while still preserving the density that makes Yes music feel immersive.

Of course, many prog fans will head straight for the epic “Countermovement,” perhaps hoping for “Close to the Edge Part 2.” Thankfully, that’s not what this is! Structurally, the closest comparison is probably Abbey Road Side Two: a sequence of interconnected musical ideas flowing naturally into one another rather than a single recurring thematic framework. That approach suits the piece perfectly. Howe’s delicate opening vocal in the Anytime Soon section is one of the album’s most unexpectedly moving moments, before the Blink Of An Eye section built around identity and artificial intelligence (the “in the blink of AI” lyric genuinely made me smile) brings a contemporary edge without sounding forced. Schellen and Sherwood deliver a strong instrumental detour and the track closes with a beautifully understated a cappella reprise that lingers long after the song ends.

“Ariadne” takes another left turn entirely, drawing on Greek mythology without becoming overly literal in its storytelling. The atmosphere here is superb. Strings, layered vocals, strange guitar textures, and some particularly strong vocal work from Billy Sherwood create one of the album’s most cinematic tracks. This is also where the production really shines: lavish and detailed, occasionally over-the-top, but always in service of the music rather than simply showing off!

Then comes perhaps the album’s biggest surprise. “All Hands On Deck” opens with one of the heaviest guitar riffs heard on a Yes album in years – when Hammond organ is added, it’s almost a modern day Deep Purple-style sound initially. Davison sings much of the track in a lower than normal register, reinforcing how far beyond simply “sounding like Jon Anderson” his role in the band has evolved. Howe’s lead vocal in the chorus works brilliantly, especially when paired with Davison’s responses, while Downes contributes clever keyboard interjections, sympathetic to the organic sound of this track. One major takeaway from Aurora overall is how much more present Geoff feels within the arrangements. The long-established working relationship between Howe and Downes now seems fully settled in the modern Yes context; both players understand exactly where their sounds complement rather than compete with one another.

The album’s instrumental-with-vocals piece, “Outside The Box,” is another genuinely unusual moment in the Yes catalogue. Beginning as a delicate acoustic guitar composition accompanied by layered “la la la” vocals that somehow evoke both Leave It and medieval choral music, the track gradually expands into something stranger and far more atmospheric. Drums, bass, electric guitar textures, and ambient soundscapes slowly emerge around it. It’s adventurous, slightly eccentric, and exactly the sort of risk a band at this stage of its career could easily avoid taking – but they took it, and I’m glad they did!

The closing track, “Emotional Intelligence,” strips things back again. Built around piano and a strong central melody, it highlights Davison’s growing importance to the band not only as a vocalist but as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. There’s a confidence to his writing throughout Aurora that feels notably stronger than on previous albums.

The bonus tracks continue the unusually high standard. “Jambustin’” provides a lighter change of pace, while “Watching The River Roll” feels far too substantial to be dismissed as a bonus. Howe’s Portuguese guitar, Sherwood’s vocal, and the flowing arrangement briefly hint at “Your Move” territory before moving somewhere entirely its own. The keyboard and guitar interplay here is especially effective.

I’m not sure any of us entirely know what we expect from a new Yes album in 2026 – perhaps the band itself doesn’t either. But Aurora succeeds because it doesn’t try to recreate the past and instead focuses on what this version of Yes uniquely does well. The dynamics, diversity, musicianship, and sheer confidence on display throughout these 60 minutes reveal a band that is still creatively alive, still evolving, and still capable of taking listeners somewhere unexpected.

And ultimately, that feels completely true to the description from the Fragile tour programme: “exceptional skill and a distinctive style brought to a shared vision”. Aurora doesn’t simply remind us what Yes once were; it makes a convincing case for what they still can be.

Released on June 12th, 2026

Order now here: https://yes-band.lnk.to/Aurora

The tracklisting is as follows:
1. Aurora 07:27
2. Turnaround Situation 05:50
3. Love Lies Dreaming 06:24
4. Countermovement 13:48
5. Ariadne 06:18
6. All Hands on Deck 03:04
7. Outside the Box 04:20
8. Emotional Intelligence 03:30
9. Jambustin’ (Bonus Track) 04:24
10. Watching the River Roll (Bonus Track) 04:42

Steve Howe / guitar, vocals 
Geoff Downes / keyboards, vocals 
Billy Sherwood / bass, vocals 
Jon Davison / vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion 
Jay Schellen / drums 

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