Yola Reclaims Her Power With New Anthem ‘Symphony’

Six-time Grammy-nominated singer and Broadway actress Yola takes a triumphant step ahead along with her new single, “Symphony,” a strong anthem that displays the grit and resilience behind her outstanding journey. With a voice that instructions consideration, Yola exudes confidence as she seems again on the winding path that has introduced her to this pivotal second. In her personal phrases, she has “lastly arrived”—an announcement that resonates deeply in a track that celebrates each the battle and the triumph of reaching the highest.

“It simply took me till now to have the ability to converse on the place I began. Appears to have been a obtrusive omission,” the singer chuckled over a Zoom name throughout an unique interview with MadameNoire.

Yola’s hybrid strategy to music takes heart stage in her new single, “Symphony,” a observe that attracts inspiration from the sounds of her wealthy upbringing in Bristol, England. Fusing soulful pop, ’90s R&B, and neo-soul, “Symphony” is a daring showcase of Yola’s distinctive sound and powerhouse vocals—traits her followers have come to adore. With clear nods to trailblazers like En Vogue, Janet Jackson, and Parliament Funkadelic, the track channels the timeless funk and R&B influences which have formed her musical identification.

In some methods, it’s a vibrant celebration of each Yola’s roots and her evolving artistry. Her musical journey started within the early 2000s with Bugz within the Attic, the groundbreaking UK collective primarily based in West London that helped outline the damaged beat motion. Identified for mixing parts of funk, jazz, uncommon groove, and Afrobeat, the collective was a inventive power that reshaped the panorama of underground music within the UK. That includes key figures like Orin Walters (Afronaut), Paul Dolby (Seiji), Kaidi Tatham, Daz-I-Kue, Alex Phountzi (Neon Phusion), Cliff Scott, Mark Pressure, and Matt Lord, Bugz within the Attic turned synonymous with modern sound and style fusion. “Symphony” serves as a tribute to Yola’s early experiences with the collective—capturing the spirit of these early life.

Supply: Symphony paintings / “Symphony” paintings courtesy of Huge Feat Pr.

“Damaged beat didn’t actually make its approach right here to the U.S., however numerous the gamers are right here proper now working with a few of your favourite artists,” mentioned Yola, who’s presently primarily based in New York. “This hybridized music and the vocal manufacturing angle actually spoke to me due to my style.”

Few voices within the UK music scene evaluate to Yola’s, and her newest launch serves as a strong reminder of simply how dynamic her sound actually is. Merely put, the sister has vary. From the very first notice, Yola’s signature gravelly tone grabs your consideration—a rawness and depth that may shift effortlessly from soulful to accommodate diva on the drop of a beat. Her voice channels the spirit of iconic legends like Jocelyn Brown and Loleatta Holloway, whose affect has been a relentless thread all through her profession. 

“In case you’ve ever heard somebody pattern Loleatta Holloway in a observe, it’s me,” she laughed, revealing a little-known secret about her early days working for a pattern replay firm. “They didn’t need to pay the royalties.”

Yola  – Supply: Selection / Getty

The rebirth.

Yola has worn many hats all through her time within the music business. She’s been a sought-after frontwoman, collaborating with a variety of DJs and producers, together with Duke Dumont, and spent years working as a featured artist and writing behind the scenes for different distinguished musical stars. However till now, she hadn’t actually discovered the area to discover her reward for seamlessly mixing genres. Her newest observe marks a turning level—a therapeutic launch that’s each a rebirth and a second of self-realization, particularly after the heartbreaking lack of her mom 11 years in the past.

“After I’m writing for different individuals, it’s their mission. After I’m doing a entrance woman-for-hire factor, It’s the DJ producer’s mission. Then, whenever you’re debuting as an artist, you don’t have the bargaining energy but to make your narrative and, I suppose, immediately referential of what you’ve been doing in music. So, I used to be able to be communing with the music that I suppose we first bonded over,” she mentioned.

Navigating the complexities of the business was one other hurdle that prevented Yola from absolutely sharing her story. Earlier than she may actually unveil her creative depth as a solo artist, the British singer spent years working with tough collaborators and taking over tasks that provided little to no monetary reward, usually only for the sake of publicity.

“The scene is absolutely significantly bigoted in opposition to dark-skinned plus-sized girls, and the intersection of being plus-sized and darkish is a specific spice. I wanted to be very specific with how I framed myself, the place I framed myself, and who I allowed to inform my story.”

Supply: JUSTIN TALLIS / Getty

Yola has a brand new EP on the way in which.

With this new music, Yola has absolutely reclaimed the ability and company she’s lengthy been looking for, stepping fearlessly into her inventive autonomy and defining her personal creative path. She’s a residing testomony to the unpredictable fantastic thing about an artist’s evolution. What began as a seek for connection in probably the most unlikely of locations has led to a profession that blends one of the best of the previous with the heartbeat of the longer term—and there’s a lot extra in retailer. Followers can count on a brand new EP coming from Yola in 2025.

“The EP has been written,” she revealed to MadameNoire of the forthcoming mission. “We’re ending mixing, going into mastering — it’s there. I’m going again into writing as a result of there will probably be an album. This isn’t a proper announcement, however I’m writing one,” the star clarified. “However you realize, when it formally exists, that’s subsequent, as a result of I’ve taken an enormous break, and particularly due to profound ranges of exhaustion.”

Exterior of music, Yola has been making main strikes. In early November, she was handpicked by The Who’s Pete Townshend and his spouse, Rachel Fuller, to star in The Seeker, a musical reinvention of Hermann Hesse’s basic novel Siddhartha, carried out alongside the Royal Philharmonic. In October, she wrapped up her run as Persephone within the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Hadestown on the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York Metropolis, the place she took the stage six nights every week, an expertise she described as hardcore.

“It’s so profoundly hardcore that you must do continuous restoration,” the “Stand For Myself” artist mentioned. “I’ve acquired these compression pants, you realize, the issues that you just plug in, and so they squeeze your legs and so they cope with your irritation — you stretch an entire lot. It’s essential to get sufficient sleep, since you’re dancing for hours and down possibly 60 steps, 4 or 5 instances a day,” she added. “I’m a thick girly, and I prefer it that approach, however I misplaced 10 inches in six weeks. Thank God I didn’t lose my butt as a result of that may have been a tragic story.”

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