Yola shared the single “Future Enemies,” her first new music in three years. The track heralds the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter’s upcoming EP, My Way, arriving on November 15 via S-Curve Records.
Following Yola’s acclaimed 2021 album, Stand For Myself, My Way marks Yola’s first record on her new label S-Curve. The EP sees Yola both beginning a new era as well as harkening back to her days in West London’s Broken Beat scene as well as her soul influences.
Yola further detailed My Way:
“I’ve been purposefully hinting about this direction for years. From covering Soul II Soul for Apple Music, to my covers on tour and reworkings of my songs, the broad church of soul music through the ages has always been the narrative. I’ve covered Yarborough and Peoples’s ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ as a throwback nod to my time in the west London ‘Broken Beat’ scene with collective Bugz In The Attic (we used to cover that song).
“This time I’m exploring my love of soul music through influences like Chaka Khan, Janet Jackson, Sade, Prince, Minnie Riperton, and various luminaries of rare groove and progressive RnB. Layering programming and synths with organic instrumentation is at the core of the sonic landscape, and as usual I have metabolised these elements into a concoction very much of my own.”
Yola previewed My Way with the single “Future Enemies,” which she co-produced with Sean Douglas (Lizzo, Chris Brown, Madonna, Selena Gomez, Sia) and Zach Skelton (Lil Nas X, John Legend, Paul McCartney).
“There is a moment when you realise you’re not going to get on with someone,” Yola stated on “Future Enemies.” “They haven’t noticed yet, so you have a unique opportunity to disappear from their lives before they ever realise you were destined to be enemies. It’s a luxury to not have an endless supply of negative memories about someone cause you never made them. ‘Why don’t we just not!’ I choose to save my time for situations, spaces, and people that have no ticking timer of inevitable doom, because they don’t see me or centre a reality that does not serve me or my wellbeing. Of course when you’re a woman, culturally Black (as well as physically Black), dark-skinned (and feminine in energy), plus-size (and wilfully main character in energy), from a whole different continent and living in the West — let’s say you’re going to have to be both vigilant and choosy in life, in love, in work. Oh, and if you also want to be real, girl!!”
“Future Enemies” layers “programming and synths with organic instrumentation” and sees Yola melding “progressive R&B and haunting electronica into thoughtful dance floor ready synth pop,” as per a press release. Watch a live performance video for “Future Enemies” below:
