Walk Through Fire, Rachel S.

Adding Yola to my rotation has proved a VERY POSITIVE experience. Defying genre is the new genre, plebes. We got '70s grooves, big country/Americana/bluegrass twang, folk, soul, classic rock, you name it. And that VOICE. SHE. HAS. THE. RANGE. Sure there's a bit of a formula at play with some of these tracks, but it WORKS. I get swept up every time. I was an emo/pop-punk kid in high school, no genre is as egregiously formula-based. Yola can do whatever she wants.

Breaking it down (Deluxe Edition):

• "Faraway Look" — Dreamy! Swooning! A gut punch hidden in a booming, beautiful symphony of sound!
• "Shady Grove" — I would like to slow dance to this in a barn wedding under twinkling string lights, thank you very much
• "Ride Out in the Country" — Takes the traditional "driving in my pickup truck" trope and makes it not suck. Bless her for this.
• "It Ain't Easier" — This makes me feel like I'm in an intimate, dimly lit bar, on my last glass of wine, with a lump in my throat just from listening. (I adore the orchestrations in this song to no end.)
• "Walk Through Fire" — Sticky hot summer. The air thick, yet boundless. TAKE ME ACROSS THE COALS, YOLA.
• "Rock Me Gently" — Is it me or is there a hint of Bowie / otherworldliness about this song?
• "Love All Night (Work All Day)" — There's something so traditionally masculine about this song, and the way that Yola oozes femininity on top of it... mmm yes yes.
• "Deep Blue Dream" — This should be in the soundtrack to a Barry Jenkins film.
• "Lonely the Night" — Couples' Skate at the roller rink tune!
• "Still Gone" — I am bopping in my office chair! Y'all know I love a song about heartbreak that's hidden by upbeat grooves!
• "Keep Me Here" — This is on your parents' favorite easy listening station. Delilah is sending this out to someone special tonight!
• "Love is Light" — Taylor Swift tried it. That's all I'm gonna say.
• "I Don't Wanna Lie" — This has big "Opening Song to a Concert" energy!!!!!
• "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" — It's the live version for me. Defines "bringing down the house." (Again, the raaaaange.)

What I love most about this album is every song makes you FEEL something. There's nothing flat here. All peaks and valleys. Big booms and quiet whispers. Crescendos on crescendos. Yola's music is an important lesson in "country music can and should be for everyone." The whole album is so universal in its appeal and its content. It's a genre that's so white, so male, and still behind so many gatekeepers. But look what rises out of it when the light gets through. This joyous, heartfelt, glorious album by a Black British woman. I can't wait to hear what comes out next (soon!).