Yola Finds Her Stride on 'Stand For Myself'
The first time I saw Yola in concert was in the backyard of a record store on a hot Saturday at Americanafest 2016. Her voice, which somehow sounded both like Roberta Flack and Dolly Parton, was something completely unique. On her excellent 2019 debut Walk Through Fire, the '70s soul side of her range was emphasized by producer Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys but, save “Ride Out in the Country”, the classic country side got less play. Now on her second album, Stand For Myself, Yola has returned to that balance that so entranced me that first time I heard it. There's still a massive slab of soul, but also shades of country, blues, r&b, and even disco.
Stand For Myself is Yola's true coming out party. Dan Auerbach is back on board as producer and there are plenty of touches of fuzzed-out guitar fury that are his trademark, but this is Yola coming into her own. Yola the vocalist. Yola the songwriter. Yola the entertainer. Yola the undeniable future of Americana.
The album kicks things off with “Barely Alive,” which starts off with a very Roberta Flack smooth soul intro, lush instrumentation, and silky smooth backing vocals. But as it warms up, so does the intensity. I don't know when the song was written, but it's hard not to hear lyrics like “Who can tell how long we'll feel this pain/Is it here for a spell or will it always remain?/Isolated, getting hard to maintain” through the lens of the world's shared pain of the last year.
The album's absolute standout track is “Diamond Studded Shoes.” Not only does it ramp up Yola's country side, it shares a spirit with Dolly Parton's classic “9 to 5.” An anthem rally cry for the working poor, Yola snarls “they buy diamond studded shoes with our taxes, anything to keep us divided” but later makes it clear she isn't taking it lying down and you shouldn't either. “We know it isn't, it ain't gonna turn out right. We know it isn't, so that's why we gots to fight!”
Another classic country ode is “The Great Divide.” If you'd told me the song was a Patsy Cline cover, I probably would have believed you. Not that Patsy could ever hit the notes Yola pulls off, but the mournful lament for a failed relationship is right out of the '60s country songbook.
For those not familiar with just how powerful Yola's voice can be, a good place to start would be with the one-two punch of “Starlight” and “Stand For Myself.” “Starlight” stands on the precipice of when diva soul met disco. The verses are powerful, but when the chorus rolls around, that voice slams into you with the force of an avalanche, “In my mind, I'm seeing starlight. One more time for my imagination” she wails, almost a scream but with undeniable melodic core.
The album's closer and title track, “Stand For Myself” is another powerhouse that lures you in subtly, this time with a bluesy riff over an acoustic guitar, with a fuzztone electric interlude the only hint of what's to come. But, once again, the chorus roars in, the instruments go to 11, and Yola's voice goes to 12. It's appropriate this song provided the album's title because it's as effective a summation of 2021 Yola as you'll get, both in the empowerment of the lyrics of a woman learning to stand for herself and in the vocal gymnastics, with the repeated “I used to feel nothing like you, but now I'm alive!” ramping up and up and up until there can't possibly be another level. But there is. And another after that.
Look, I'm a pretty unabashed Yola mark. Walk Through Fire was my 2019 album of the year and I haven't heard anything since that topped it... until now. Every superlative spoken about Walk Through Fire (and there were a lot of them) was like a stream feeding into the river that is Stand For Myself.