Back in 2021, North Virginia native and technical guitarist extraordinaire Yasmin Williams released Urban Driftwood, an abstract concept album of sorts; it is a loose diary of her experience of 2020. Understandably then, considering the events of that time, Urban Driftwood is a solitary album and a more pensive one than Acadia, her third release. Here, Yasmin hits the collaboration button and pulls in guests on eight of the nine songs. The ultimate feeling is a celebration, a life-affirming album of warm, bucolic and gorgeous music.
Cliffwalk, opening the album, is a good example, with Yasmin’s brightly picked and strummed guitar joined by Dom Flemons’ bones playing, which has the feeling of crickets on a summer day. As you would expect from Yasmin, the playing is meticulous and complex, with plenty of notes being hit without sounding too busy or crowded.
Songs like Hummingbird maintain this sense of momentum and good weather. A tightly played guitar refrain is joined by the fiddle and banjo of traditional duo Allison de Groot and Tatiana Hargreaves, at which point the three instruments up the tempo and dance a very pretty tune. Like nearly half of the songs here, Hummingbird hovers around six minutes, giving it plenty of time to shift tempo and rhythm, which it certainly takes advantage of, with playful stops and starts and slow periods before string workouts. It’s a great piece that is full of character and heart and is beautifully uplifting.
Harvest is another song built around a solid melody enhanced by the guest players, in this case, fellow guitar whiz Kaki King and violinist Darian Donovon Thomas. The base tune harks back to Yasmin’s college days when she shelved it only to dust it off as a duet with Kaki. Unsurprisingly, the guitar licks are killer here, but the tune itself is also lovely, and Darian’s violin adds much heart and a different perspective to the music.
Elsewhere, like on the more psychedelic Dream Lake, the music has more muscle. Here, Malick Koly adds drums, and Yasmin lets loose on the electric guitar, shredding lines over electronic swirls of sound. Nectar is another surprise, a shortish (it started life as a double-necked guitar interlude) ramble with guest musician and producer Magro bringing in some tight drumming and fun elastic bass, giving the tune a jazz-inspired edge. It is another point of interest on an album seemingly determined to provide us with a wealth of music and creativity within nine tracks. There is always much to admire in Yasmin Williams’ work; her music is carefully composed, technically intricate and always played with ludicrous ability. Here, her sound feels open and full of life. Acadia is a gift of a recording, a rural album of gorgeous tunes with smooth edges that seem only to wish you well.
Acadia (4th October 2024) Nonesuch
Bandcamp: https://yasminwilliams.bandcamp.com/album/acadia