Though most people are familiar with Lola Young thanks to ‘Messy’, last year’s omnipresent ode to imperfection, the Beckenham singer-songwriter is already three albums into a career that began when she was fresh out of BRIT School in 2018. After catching the attention of Amy Winehouse’s former manager Nick Shymansky, Young inked a major label deal with Island when she was just eighteen. Due to this obvious overlap, as well as the fact that Young frequently writes about her own struggles with substance abuse, she is frequently compared to Winehouse: but truthfully, there’s very little sonic resemblance between the two.
Instead, her third album ‘I’m Only Fucking Myself’ draws from a grab-bag of far more modern influences: the fidgeting guitars of ‘Not Like That Anymore’ are ripped straight out of debut-era Vampire Weekend or The Maccabees, while ‘Spiders’ is Young’s poppier, more polished answer to the ’90s grunge band Veruca Salt. The most potent influence of all, though, has to be alt-pop artist Remi Wolf. This album’s strongest, most immediate hits, ‘D£aler’ and ‘One Thing’, are distractingly similar to Wolf’s 2024 album ‘Big Ideas’ to the point that it’s easy to confuse the two. They even share a collaborator, the Grammy-winning producer Solomonphonic, in common.
Though both of these singles are breezy, hooky bops – and ‘D£aler’ in particular has some stand-out lyrics that skewer the moment of paralysis right before trying to make a meaningful change – Solomon’s signature sound largely dominates here, over and at the expense of Young forging her own more distinctive voice. Though it shoots for strutting, sexual liberation, some of the lyrics on ‘One Thing’ are truly dreadful (”turn the light off, I’mma wet the sheets”), and the less said about the rather cynical, TikTok-tailored delivery on the second verse the better.
Elsewhere, though, ‘I’m Only Fucking Myself’ has far more of its own personality. Along with ‘Spiders’, it’s the other heavier tracks – ‘Can We Ignore It :(‘, ‘Fuck Everyone’ and ‘Post Sex Clarity’ – where Young sounds most at home. Penultimate song ‘Who F**king Cares’ also shows a different side to Young again: an acoustic track that showcases her vocals, and lays bare hollow nihilism, coupled with a vague and directionless desire to find happiness again. “All I know is that I’d like to be, and someday I might get there,” she sings, before quipping: “In the meantime, I’ll cry to Radiohead, hoping my ex still cares.”
At times, ‘I’m Only Fucking Myself’ feels a little all over the place – though, cramming so many interesting and surprising spins on pop into one record, and largely pulling it off, is still commendable. One of the more interesting new names breaking out right now, Young proves that there’s far more to her repertoire than ‘Messy’, and though it occasionally lacks focus as an album, it also tees up plenty of excitement for whatever’s next.
Details
- Record label: Island/Day One
- Release date: September 19, 2025