ACL Fest 2019 Week Two Record Reviews
Yola
Walk Through Fire (Easy Eye Sound)
Reviewed by Michael Toland, Fri., Oct. 11, 2019
If heard in a grocery store, you'd think Walk Through Fire an obscure soul record from the late Sixties. Credit producer Dan Auerbach, the Black Keysman whose obsession with pre-synthesizer recording methods is almost cliche by now, but not at the expense of Yolanda Quartey herself. From Bristol, UK, the singer/songwriter steeps in Aretha Franklin, Arthur Alexander, and her countrywoman Dusty Springfield – gospel, R&B, and country all at once. On "Deep Blue Dream," "Shady Grove," and "Ride Out in the Country," this solo debut makes all the right moves to sail past retro on its way to timeless. (2:45pm, Tito's stage)