Yola: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

The Tiny Desk is working from home for the foreseeable future. Introducing NPR Music's Tiny Desk (home) concerts, bringing you performances from across the country and the world. It's the same spirit — stripped-down sets, an intimate setting — just a different space.

Aug. 25, 2020 | Bob Boilen -- Yola is an electrifying performer. My first experience — in the dark, dingy basement of Grimey's at the 2016 AMERICANAFEST in Nashville — was stunning, soulful and frenetic. To see this British singer now — sitting in a grassy, sunlit backyard in Nashville with acoustic guitar accompaniment — was worthy of a double-take. But that's what makes these Tiny Desk (home) concerts so fascinating. We get reintroduced to the deeper sides of so many of the participating artists. In this case, Yola performs songs with guitarist Jordan Tice of Hawktail. They're beautiful interpretations of songs from her 2019 album Walk Through Fire and her 2016 EP Orphan Offering that pull back the intensity I associate with Yola's music, but are still passionate and fervent. This is a rare Yola moment in her temporary quarantine home, so put the whiskey aside, grab a glass of iced tea and chill.

SET LIST
"Faraway Look"
"Dead And Gone"
"Love Is Light"
"It Ain't Easier"

MUSICIANS
Yola: vocals, guitar; Jordan Tice: guitar, vocals

CREDITS
Video by: Doug Hall; Audio by: Doug Hall; Producer: Bob Boilen; Audio Mastering Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Video Producer: Morgan Noelle Smith; Associate Producer: Bobby Carter; Executive Producer: Lauren Onkey; Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann