Album Review: Lola Young – I’m Only F**king Myself
2 min read
Lola Young’s I’m Only F**king Myself feels like eavesdropping on a late-night voice note you weren’t meant to hear. It’s messy, funny, furious and uncomfortably honest. Released as a 14-track record, it opens with the tiny, breathy interlude how long will it take to walk a mile? – a little cinematic setup that makes the explosion that follows land harder. F**K EVERYONE is the full-volume opener – pop-punk attitude, snarling vocal delivery and a giddy, reckless energy that announces the album’s ‘I don’t care who I upset’ manifesto. One Thing slips into a sleeker groove, it’s the single-leaning, temptress track that balances hooky pop craft with a sotto-voce vulnerability and probably the track that will get the most radio spins. d£aler is a moody, almost 80s-tinged lament about addiction and attachment.
The middle of the album is where Lola plays with more textures. SPIDERS features warped guitars and vocal strain while Penny Out of Nothing is a quieter, melancholic melody – stripped-back and aching. Walk All Over You flips the script to something along the lines of revenge-pop, perfect for post-breakup catharsis, while Post Sex Clarity offers the wry aftertaste, the sober aftermath to the album’s more dramatic and raunchier tracks. The arrangements here keep you guessing – some songs lean synthy, others are guitar-driven, but the through-line is Lola’s raw, conversational delivery.
I’m Only F**king Myself then moves into self-interrogation and dark humour. SAD SOB STORY! :) wears its sarcasm loud, a wink-and-nudge of a track that’s just as performative as it is sincere. CAN WE IGNORE IT? :( reads like the title suggests, an anxious refrain about what we all let slide. The production of this track really amplifies that jittery avoidance. why do i feel better when i hurt you? is one of the album’s more stripped-back confessions focusing in on the lyrics and for good reason. It’s slow, emotionally masochistic and honest in a comfortably discomforting way. Not Like That Anymore is about relapse and recovery – Lola strips back the aesthetics once again and lets the words land bluntly, a frighteningly real look at self-sabotage that gives the album its moral centre.
By the end, who f**king cares? sighs like surrender – weary and resigned. The closing ur an absolute c word (interlude) is a sardonic sign-off that leaves you somewhat smiling and feeling a little hollow. Overall, I’m Only F**king Myself isn’t polished in the conventional sense but that’s certainly the point here – Lola trades slickness for character. The record’s jagged edges are where its power lies. There’s a real thrill in hearing an artist lay out her flaws with such unfiltered personality. It’s messy, sometimes uncomfortable and actually rather brilliant.
