YES Release Aurora’s Digital Deluxe With Ten Instrumental Versions
YES expands Aurora digitally with ten instrumental versions and a new Ariadne video. The original album was released in June.
YES have released a digital deluxe edition of Aurora, pairing ten album tracks with their instrumental counterparts. InsideOutMusic’s catalog dates the 20-track release to October 2, 2026.
Ten tracks, ten instrumental counterparts
The instrumental sequence includes the two bonus songs, “Jambustin’” and “Watching the River Roll”, alongside the eight main album tracks. It gives the digital edition a complete second run through that expanded program.
Aurora originally arrived on June 12. This is an expanded digital edition of that album, rather than a newly announced studio record.
A new video for Ariadne
The band has also unveiled a new video for “Ariadne” by Matt Hutchings. Singer Jon Davison connects the song’s subject to his longstanding interest in Greek mythology.
Physical deluxe versions of Aurora already included a bonus instrumental disc. The digital expansion therefore should not be mistaken for the first release of those instrumental recordings.
Steve Howe produced Aurora. The band’s account describes ideas developing in home studios before being brought together through collaboration, with Howe guiding the project as producer.
Another way into the arrangements
For guitar listeners, paired original and instrumental versions offer a useful way to focus on the arrangement around a melody. The release is billed as instrumental versions, so it should not be described as isolated guitar stems or newly recorded guitar parts.
Which track would you compare first? Explore the official digital edition and follow the corresponding track pairs.
Image: Original editorial illustration of Steve Howe with his documented Gibson ES Artist, informed by 2024 references. It does not depict an Aurora recording session. Reference photographs: Steve Knight / Flickr / CC BY 2.0.