If you’re not listening to Yola yet, you should be. Her latest release, “Stand For Myself,” is another taste of her upcoming record of the same name due on July 30, and I can already tell that this is going to be one of my favorite 2021 releases.
Everything Yola does has blown me away me since I first heard her voice just over a year and a half ago, but I think this track is my favorite release from her yet. She continues to defy the boundaries of genre with her soulful vocals, wailing rock guitar riffs, and subtle country/Americana feel, and this track, like everything she does, blends the best of every world into something all her own.
In a recent Instagram post promoting the song, she says:
“It’s a call on us all to extract our heads from the sand from fear based reasoning, and engage with the world and its people. To reject narratives that push you towards a lack of empathy. I’m asking all of you to live more honestly, more vulnerably and with more profound feeling for yourself and consequently others. To be free enough mentally to pursue ideas you haven’t had, you make a decision to move into the unknown. Joy is hiding in those neglected shadows, and I hope you feel that sense of hope and possibility in this song, like I felt when I was writing it.”
This track feels like an anthem for those who hide themselves from the world, those who are scared, and for those who are ready to start fighting for whatever it is that they believe in. That said, it feels different from other songs that serve a similar purpose. Yola acknowledges that she understands why we stick our heads in the sand or why we hide ourselves. She admits that it’s not easy to get past that, but encourages the listener to work and fight for it anyway, and she does this in such a way that doing so actually seems feasible.
The song starts off with that acknowledgement that she understands why we do what we do and introduces the concept of standing for oneself softly, to ease the listener into the concept. From the second half onward, the instrumental and Yola’s powerful vocals build into a roar that’ll leave you feeling stronger and more empowered than ever before. You just can’t avoid it. The song itself sounds like a revolution.
This track genuinely spoke to my soul. In today’s world, I believe we need more people to live free, to be themselves, and to fight for what matters to them, and it’s always refreshing to hear one of music’s best put that message out into the world. Go spin “Stand For Yourself” right now and get ready for this record – it’s gonna be a good one!