‘Stand For Myself’ is yet another almost perfectly crafted album from Yola.
After her bomb of a debut album, when she “walked through fire” out of nowhere, does Yola need to “stand for herself?” Maybe so, maybe not, but Yola certainly does that with her equally satisfying follow-up ‘Stand For Myself.’
You can easily say that her debut was one of the best examples of what you can dub as modern Americana. Beautiful country/soul with excellent compositions and a magnificent voice. Some might dread what goes under the title of “sophomore jinx,” but it is quite possible that Yola does not know that, or maybe she simply didn’t care about it.
Whatever the case is with the new album, it is quite obvious that Dan Auerbach gives us a golden nugget that keeps on shining after she dazzled us with her debut.
Again we get impeccable songwriting with Yola’s incredible voice and equally impeccable musicianship. We get that combination of soul (‘Barely Alive’), gospel (‘Diamond Studded Shoes’) country ballads (‘Be My Friend’) and all the facets that fit into an almost perfectly crafted Americana album.
Some purists might complain that Yola might become too successful for her own good. With music like this, she probably will, but then, why would that be a problem? Talent like this should be at the top because that is where they belong.
This time around, Yola’s ‘Stand For Myself’ might not be such a surprise, she already got us used to this level of quality and maintains it again.
