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Apr 22, 2021 By Emma Goad

Symphonic soul and classic pop artist Yola has announced her new album, Stand For Myself, as well as shared a video for the first single off the album “Diamond Studded Shoes.” Stand For Myself is due out July 30 via Easy Eye Sound. Below, check out the video directed by Kwaku Otchere, as well as the tracklist and album art.

Yola talks about the inspiration for the song and music video in a press release: “This song explores the false divides created to distract us from those few who are in charge of the majority of the world’s wealth and use the ‘divide and conquer’ tactic to keep it. This song calls on us to unite and turn our focus to those with a stranglehold on humanity. The video is in part inspired by The Truman Show and is about being trapped in a false construct. It is supposedly perfect, but you’re trapped in a life that wasn’t meant for you. I wanted to convey the feeling that everything you know to be true is not quite working the way it’s supposed to. The island at the end is a paradigm of mental conditioning, we are all trapped on an island of our own thinking, until we change it.”

Produced by Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys), Stand For Myself will be released under his label and is a major shift from Yola’s debut album, with sounds of soul and classic pop. Yola planned to tour with Chris Stapleton and The Black Keys before the pandemic put production and stadium tours to a halt. However, she will be touring with Chris Stapleton on his rescheduled tour in 2021 and will headline the Ryman Auditorium in 2022. Yola announced that she will be performing at Newport Folk and Newport Jazz this summer. The album draws inspiration from seminal records of the ’70s, British radio, R&B, classic pop, and ’90s neo soul.

On the topic of inspiration for the album, Yola talks about being back to where she started: “I kind of got talked out of being me, and now I’m here. 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.”

Stand For Myself 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

Yola Tour Dates:
2021:

July 23-July 25 - Newport Folk
July 30-Aug 1 - Newport Jazz
Aug 6 - Hinterland Music Festival
Aug 7 - DTE Energy Music Theatre. Clarkston, MI - w/ Chris Stapleton
Aug 21 - Globe Life Park. Arlington, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
Sep 10 - Bristol Rhythm & Roots Festival
Sep 16 - Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre. Maryland Height, MO - w/ Chris Stapleton
Sep 17 - Oak Mountain Amphitheatre. Birmingham, AL - w/ Chris Stapleton
Sep 18 - The Wharf Amphitheatre. Orange Beach, AL - w/ Chris Stapleton
Sep 25 - Ruoff Music Center. Noblesville, IN - w/ Chris Stapleton
Sep 26 - Ohana Music Festival
Oct 8 - Madison Square Garden. NYC, NY - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 14 - Mizzou Arena. Columbia, MO - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 15 - Pinnacle Bank Arena. Lincoln, NE - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 16 - Denny Sanford Premier Center. Sioux Falls, SD - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 21 - Riverbend Music Center. Cincinnati, OH - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 22 & 23 - Bridgestone Arena. Nashville, TN - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 28 - United Supermarket Arena. Lubbock, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 29 - Isleta Amphitheater. Albuquerque, NM - w/ Chris Stapleton
Oct 30 - AK-Chin Pavilion. Phoenix, AZ - w/ Chris Stapleton
Nov 4 - Frank Erwin Center. Austin, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
Nov 5 - BOK Center. Tulsa, OK - w/ Chris Stapleton
Nov 6 - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. The Woodlands, TX - w/ Chris Stapleton
Dec 3 - FedEx Forum. Memphis, TN - w/ Chris Stapleton
Dec 4 - Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Biloxi, MS - w/ Chris Stapleton
Dec 5 - Thompson-Boling Arena. Knoxville, TN - w/ Chris Stapleton

2022:
Mar 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

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