Colin Harper described the album in Mojo in 2002, "...the glorious simplicity of this release feels like a homecoming in every sense.

Backed by three superb musicians, the live-in-home-studio performances are beautifully restrained, and the vibe of both writing and sound has a warmth and contentedness redolent of gazing through rain-lashed stone-cottage windows in Wexford - which is, as it happens, pretty much how it was.

101) In its review, Allmusic suggests that McEvoy's range as a lyric-writer is limited, stating that she "seems to write about only two subjects, lost love and found love, and she tends to rely on well-worn clichés" but notes that her "melodies are easily strong enough to stand on their own", stating overall that "[t]he purity of the arrangements" of the music on this album "is indeed wonderful.

[2] Yola was released in Super Audio Compact Disc format in February 2002 by Market Square Records.

The cover features a shot of Bridgetown railway station, at the time still open but closed in 2010.