Stand for Myself
| Yola
Stand for Myself
Stand for Myself is the second studio album by English singer and songwriter Yola. It was released on 30 July 2021, through Easy Eye Sound. The album debuted at 196 on the Billboard 200 chart, being her first entry on the chart. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
The Bristol-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter’s second album isn’t defined by genre as much as it is by Yola’s indomitable spirit.
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Popmatters
Yola’s first album found an adoring audience in the Americana world. She’s expanded her repertoire on Stand For Myself as she gets ever more soulful.
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Paste Magazine
The Bristol-born, Nashville-based singer breaks through isolation and defeat on her outstanding sophomore album.
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musicOMH
In the past, she may have been at others’ beck and call but now – no doubt about it – it’s Yola time.
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AllMusic
Stand for Myself is a stunner with plenty of emotional firepower, but it can also feel soft as a wool blanket.
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mxdwn Music
Stand For Myself works because the music is good. But also, it is important to take a look at the circumstances surrounding the creative part of this project. Yola took her brand of soul-country and brought it to one of the most intriguing alternative producers that the music industry offers. There was never any attempt to conform or stay between the lines. In this sentiment, Yola delivered a wonderfully colorful album in a situation that is so often in black and white.
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The Guardian
The underrated British singer, now based in Tennessee, returns with more eclectic inspirations.
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Rock and Blues Muse
Stand For Myself is an epic second album from an artist that words can’t fully describe. One must experience Yola and her way of doing things to genuinely get why she’s so important. This is the hybrid soul music of the future and will one day be regarded as one of the records that changed things. Get it into your ears and find out why.
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In Review Online
Stand for Myself reflects Yola’s next phase of healing after her debut, a sophomore effort that is equally confident and vulnerable.
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Highway Queens
Overall this is an impressive second album and I remain as blown away by her voice as I was when I first heard it. You know these songs really have to be heard live and this is the kind of artist who will pick up new fans wherever she goes – we just need to get safe tours running again.
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Under the Radar Magazine
Sleek, soulful, intricate, and anthemic, Stand For Myself serves as evidence that in her life, Yola may have loved and lost, but through her art, she has everything to gain.
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Peanut Butter Pope
Yola may as well audition for a death metal band if everything she does is handled with this much authenticity. Genres that may be considered bygone are squashed into the modern day zeitgeist and blended together on ‘Stand for Myself’. I hate to use the word ‘vintage’ again, but this be pretty vintage.
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Metro Weekly
Yola's sophomore album is an addictive catalogue of nuanced, genre-bending Americana.
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The Needle Drop
Yola's stunning writing and performances easily make up for Stand for Myself's general lack of novelty.
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Talk About Pop Music
This is Yola standing for herself in a big world, but in a world where “Stand For Myself” deserves to be the biggest of all.
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Narc Magazine
Yola’s lyrics on Stand For Myself are deeply personal yet relatable, the likes of Now You’re Here really strikes a chord. There is an effortless passion throughout, and when pitched against the beautiful soulful grooves of Dancing Away In Tears or Break The Bough, Stand For Myself is taken to a new level. This is Yola at her finest!
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Uncut
By balancing pop and politics, Yola always sounds like she’s in the trenches herself, always mustering the courage and energy to keep fighting. Ultimately, this is an album about how an “I” becomes an “us”, about how the artist cannot survive without her audience.
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Bearded Gentlemen Music
Stand for Myself projects strength and ambition, as Yola’s full-throated declarations pursue a love between equals. Not only does she want to dance close with her lover, but she also wants to hold them closer. Her raspy, aching voice pulses with intensity, but she will not back down from seeking and finding the life she knows she deserves. This is not an act. It’s not a show. She has embraced a decades-old sounds and propelled into the future.
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Country Standard Time
One best experiences "Stand For Myself" as the album it was intended, playing start to finish, its challenges and celebrations revealing themselves across 46- intensely enjoyable minutes. Initially one may hesitate because this album isn't "Walk Through Fire." That's true; unexpectedly, but thankfully, it's better.
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