For years,
Lola Young
turned trauma and humor into brashly confessional songs before striking viral gold with her 2024 single "Messy." It's easy to hear why it became an international multi-platinum hit: Coming across like
Amy Winehouse
raised on
Fleetwood Mac
instead of '60s R&B and jazz, it transformed bleedingly raw feelings and glossy sonics into pop with edges jagged enough to stick in listeners' memories. It's also easy to understand why
I'm Only F**king Myself
feels shaped by "Messy"'s success. Like that song (and the album it came from,
This Wasn't Meant for You Anyway
),
Young
's third full-length overflows with catharsis that's often uncomfortable and always relatable. She has a song for every stage of dealing with big emotions, from "Walk All Over You"'s sweetly steely empowerment to "who f**king cares"' painfully self-aware desperation. No matter how bleak things get,
's wordplay is as sharp as ever; "If being mean was a habit/Baby, you'd be addicted," from "SAD SOB STORY! :)," is one of the album's pithiest lyrics.
As
explores the compulsion to use people and substances for escape, it never feels less than authentic (late in 2024, her own struggles led to a short stay in rehab). Combined with her increasingly tight, confident songwriting, it makes for powerful moments such as "d£aler," a percolating breakup song that cuts ties with people and self-perceptions from the past and adds nuance to lines like "doin' a whole load of nothin'." At times, however,
trades depth for viral potential. "F**K EVERYONE" is brassy and unapologetically over-the-top, but a little obvious compared to her earlier work. Likewise, on "Not Like That Anymore,"
's theatrical delivery teeters between irony and self-parody.
But just as "Messy" was best experienced as part of
,
rewards those who want more than viral moments. Some of the best songs are reminders that it's not just what she sings about that makes her music special, but how she sings about it. On "SPIDERS," it's endearing to hear someone with a voice that could blow down houses afraid of a tiny bug, even if she reaches towering heights on the chorus.
's music is still as freewheeling with its sounds as it is with its moods. It's a thrill to hear her take control of songs as different as the expansive experimental rock of "CAN WE IGNORE IT? :(," the country meets R&B of "why do i feel better when i hurt you," and the Afrobeat-influenced lilt of "One Thing" (one of several songs that underscore how radical it still is for a woman to sing about lust that has nothing to do with love). Equally empowering and self-deprecating, raw and revealing,
feels like a crossroads. The world will always need songs about heartache, revenge, and bidding good riddance to someone; though
delivers them with style, there's a sense that she's got more to offer. ~ Heather Phares