Composer and multi-instrumentalist Yasmin Williams has announced her new album, Acadia, which arrives October 4 via Nonesuch—marking Williams’ debut on the label. Today, Williams reveals lead single “Virga,” which features guest vocals from indie-folk outfit Darlingside. Hear that below, and scroll down for the album art and tracklist.
Acadia consists of nine, largely instrumental songs, all written and produced by Williams. She also plays a host of instruments on the record: guitar, banjo, calabash drum, kora, and even tap shoes. Williams enlisted contributions from saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, singer Aoife O’Donovan, rhythm bones player Dom Flemons, and more.
“Acadia has several meanings,” Williams noted in a press release. She continued:
A place of rural peace and pastoral poetry (Italian), a refuge or idyllic place, (Greek and Italian), fertile land (Mi’kmaq), a place of plenty (French). All of this relates to the ethos of this album. The songs are seeds I planted, and the seeds grew into the album, Acadia: a place of peace, a place where creativity can blossom, a place where everyone can fit in together and collaborate effectively, a place where the fruits of my own labor in music can fully flourish without judgment or prejudice. One of my visions for this record was to expand the potential for current folk music to encourage collaboration across various genres. Blurring those somewhat arbitrary lines has been a natural tendency for me since I started writing music at twelve years old and Acadia is a full circle moment.
Of the lead single “Virga,” Williams added: “A virga is a meteorological phenomenon where streaks of rain hang from a cloud and evaporate before reaching the ground. I related this sentiment to how it feels for me to be an artist in an industry that doesn’t seem to always value art and reflection. I eventually realized that I needed to learn how to thrive ‘in virga,’ so to speak. To learn to be okay with feeling slightly suspended in time, with my hopes and dreams dangling in an environment I have no control over, never fully having my feet planted on the ground.”
Acadia follows Yasmin Williams’ breakout 2021 full-length Urban Driftwood. Read more about her in “25 New and Rising Artists Shaping the Future of Music in 2023.”
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