YOLA RELEASES VIDEO FOR NEW SINGLE STAND FOR MYSELF CELEBRATING A NUANCED DEPICTION OF BLACK FEMININE STRENGTH
LISTEN TO NEW SONG AND PRE-ORDER ALBUM HERE
STAND FOR MYSELF TO BE RELEASED VIA EASY EYE SOUND JULY 30
“Yet another musical twist in Yola’s saga. An ebullient mix
of hard truths and vintage soul.” - Rolling Stone
“‘The music radiates optimism. But Yola’s lyrics are far more skeptical; she’s warning that the rich and privileged still have everything rigged in their favor.” - The New York Times
Toronto, ON – May 27, 2021 – Today, Yola released the video for the title track of her anthemic new album, Stand For Myself, which will be released via Easy Eye Sound on July 30, 2021. The single debuted today with a powerful new video, directed by Allister Ann. The clip features Yola escaping from a world that has entrapped her, on a vintage motorcycle whilst depicting a nuanced definition of Black female strength and drawing on visual references from the music videos from her childhood. “My school years were during the 90s and 00s, and Missy Elliott’s videos were always aesthetically superior to me.” Yola stated, adding “I feel that the video is set in the antechamber to freedom. The feeling of escaping something truly oppressive and heading towards an unknown with a sense of hope and choice you haven’t felt in a long time. We all have the capacity to go through this process in our own minds, I kinda look like a superhero at times, but I’m not. I’m just a person trying to be free.”
Yola co-wrote the song with Dan Auerbach, Hannah V and Natalie Hembym and it features The McCrary Sisters on background vocals. The track reflects on Yola’s belief in the possibility of paradigm shift beyond the mental programming that creates tokenism and bigotry, which have deeply impacted her personal life and professional career. “The song’s protagonist ‘token,’ has been shrinking themselves to fit into the narrative of another’s making, but it becomes clear that shrinking is pointless.”
Yola said, adding, “This song is about a celebration of being awake from the nightmare supremacist paradigm. Truly alive, awake and eyes finally wide open and trained on your path to self-actualisation. You are thinking freely and working on undoing the mental programming that has made you live in fear. It is about standing for ourselves throughout our lives and real change coming when we challenge our thinking. This is who I've always been in music and in life. There was a little hiatus where I got brainwashed out of my own majesty, but a bitch is back.”
The album was produced by Dan Auerbach and has already been hailed as a singular sonic shift, with publications including Stereogum who proclaimed her recent single, Diamond Studded Shoes, as blending “symphonic soul and classic pop.” Paper Magazine described her new sound as “nuanced and endlessly listenable.” The Root said, “Yola’s brassy twang is both fun to listen to and resonates deeply within the soul because of the power it holds,” and Consequence described Yola as creating, “soulful pop songs that mark a distinct pivot.”
Stand For Myself traces a musical thread to Yola’s most eclectic musical inspirations. From the seminal albums Yola discovered via her Mother’s 70s record collection, to her love of eclectic British radio, which featured a fluid mix of 90s neo soul, R&B and britpop—all which soundtracked her childhood and teenage years in Bristol, England. Yola experienced prejudice throughout her childhood and career and navigated these experiences, as well as homelessness in London and stress-induced voice loss to launch her solo career in 2016. She achieved breakout success with her debut album, Walk Through Fire, which landed her four GRAMMY® nominations including Best New Artist, critical acclaim and fans from Elton John to Mavis Staples.
Yola will be one of few artists to perform at both Newport Folk and Newport Jazz in the same year, when she joins the lineup of both events this summer. She will also be performing dates with Chris Stapleton on his rescheduled tour in 2021 and will headline The Ryman Auditorium in 2022. For more information and tickets please visit: www.iamyola.com.
Tracklist:
1. Barely Alive
2. Dancing Away In Tears
3. Diamond Studded Shoes
4. Be My Friend
5. Great Divide
6. Starlight
7. If I Had To Do It All Again
8. Now You’re Here
9. Whatever You Want
10. Break The Bough
11. Like A Photograph
12. Stand For Myself
Live dates include:
2021
July 23-July 25 - Newport Folk
July 30- August 1 - Newport Jazz
August 6 - Hinterland Music Festival
August 7 - DTE Energy Music Theatre. Clarkston, MI - w/ Chris Stapleton
August 21 - Globe Life Park. Arlington, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
September 10 - Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival
September 16 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Maryland Height, MO - w/ Chris Stapleton
September 17 - Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. Birmingham, AL - w/ Chris Stapleton
September 18 - The Wharf Amphitheatre. Orange Beach, AL - w/ Chris Stapleton
September 25 - Ruoff Music Center. Noblesville, IN - w/ Chris Stapleton
September 26 - Ohana Music Festival
October 8 - Madison Square Garden. NYC, NY - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 14 - Mizzou Arena. Columbia, MO - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 15 - Pinnacle Bank Arena. Lincoln, NE - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 16 - Denny Sanford Premier Center. Sioux Falls, SD - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 21 - Riverbend Music Center. Cincinnati, OH - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 22 & 23 - Bridgestone Arena. Nashville, TN - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 28 - United Supermarket Arena. Lubbock, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 29 - Isleta Amphitheater. Albuquerque, NM - w/ Chris Stapleton
October 30 - AK-Chin Pavilion. Phoenix, AZ - w/ Chris Stapleton
November 4 - Frank Erwin Center. Austin, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
November 5 - BOK Center. Tulsa, OK - w/ Chris Stapleton
November 6 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. The Woodlands, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
December 3 - FedEx Forum. Memphis, TN - w/ Chris Stapleton
December 4 - Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Biloxi, MS - w/ Chris Stapleton
December 5 - Thompson-Boling Arena. Knoxville, TN - w/ Chris Stapleton
2022
March 3 - Ryman Auditorium. Nashville, TN
April 20 - Huntington Center. Toledo, OH - w/ Chris Stapleton
April 21 - Schottenstein Center. Columbus, OH - w/ Chris Stapleton
April 23 - A Concert for Kentucky – Kroger Field. Lexington, KY - w/ Chris Stapleton
Pre-save Stand For Myself here.
