Yola triumphs through struggles and finding courage and happiness in 'Stand For Myself'
After her sparkling and soulful breakthrough debut, Yola continues that trajectory on her sophomore album this year with ‘Stand For Myself’ during the time of touring and acting delays caused by the pandemic. Bringing along Dan Auerbach for production yet again, the hints of gloss and resolve that popped up on Yola’s 2019 record became much more apparent here. As a result, it’s her best album to date due to how she stepped up her vocal chops, writing, as well as the production.
Going back to Yola as a performer and as a writer, she always has a charismatic edge when she sings, which is wonderful when paired with the soulful production and personal writing that delves into the downbeat moments of her life while still grasping an optimistic will despite that. On this record, Yola expands her vocal range as she belts throughout the mix but still not overselling and overtaking it. The writing still does touch upon some darker topics, but the optimism is much more revealing here, more triumphant and aspirational as Yola goes through her experience of being a black woman with details of a fleeting relationship and struggles with tokenism but still pushes through with her unwavering spirit and manages to find courage and resistance at the end through finding her allies, letting go of that relationship, and finding happiness with herself.
That writing and performance were further elevated by the production and the composition. Unlike the debut, the production by Dan Auerbach brings more glittery and soulful textures that make the entire album sound countrypolitan and the compositions allow for much bigger hooks and instrumental moments. The romantic and comforting swells of ‘Starlight’ and ‘Now You’re Here’ and ‘Barely Alive’, the disco touches on ‘Dancing Away In Tears’, the grand buildups of ‘Like A Photograph’, 'Great Divide’, ‘Be My Friend’, the fluttering rhythms of ‘Break The Dough’ and ‘Diamond Studded Shoes’, and the triumphant closer that is ‘Stand For Myself’
The back half starts to lose its glitter and how some tracks have melodies that don't stick as much as they should, which is the case for ‘If I Had To Do It Again’. But for the most part, this is a phenomenal record by Yola, stepping further into her own grand prowess and showing everyone some comfort that most people do need right now.
Favorite Tracks: Starlight, Like A Photograph, Stand For Myself, Barely Alive, Dancing Away In Tears, Diamond Studded Shoes, Be My Friend, Great Divide, Now You’re Here, Whatever You Want, Break The Dough
Least Favorite Track: If I Had To Do It All Again