Yasmin Williams -- Acadia
Yasmin Williams boldly defies reductive labels on her album Acadia
Yasmin Williams adds to her lore on Acadia, a stunning exploration of guitar that willfully defies categorization. As all-too-often happens with Black artists who play acoustic guitar, Williams was quickly pegged as a blues and folk artist with the breakout hit of her 2021 album Urban Driftwood. After a whirlwind on the folk and blues circuit, Acadia finds Williams more confidently stepping into herself.
The opening track "Cliffwalk" is inspired by Williams' experience at Newport Folk Fest. It's a gentle ramble with Dom Flemmons contributing percussion, a song of optimism and newfound energy. Williams invited nineteen different collaborators to join her on Acadia spanning the full spectrum of folk, African music, rock, and ambient. This eclecticism is all of a piece under Williams' disciplined compositions.
Williams has said in multiple interviews that each song on Acadia is a planet in a larger universe. "Harvest" is a breathtaking pastoral, while "Virga" is a transcendent track with Darlingside contributing ethereal vocals. On the other hand, "Sisters" is playful and contemplative, with guitar lines chasing and cascading after each other like two children at play.
The album concludes with "Malamu," a joyous convergence of the musical themes that course through Acadia but, more importantly, a marriage of all the styles Williams weaves throughout. A little bit of twang, a little bit of rock, and a lot of West African influences encapsulate William's core energies as an artist. Acadia is a gentle but firm statement about what Williams is all about, and how no person should be contained by labels or definitions.
