After breakthrough single “Messy” topped the charts earlier this year, fans and skeptics alike have highly anticipated Lola Young’s third album. Released on Sept. 19, “I’m Only F**king Myself” tackles addiction, toxic relationships and sex — the alt-pop rock record is raunchy, unfiltered and fueled by emotional catharsis.
The album opens with “how long will it take to walk a mile? (interlude),” a vocal interlude from Mandisa Apena, a spoken-word contributor, that powerfully introduces the rest of the album in the style of a voice memo. The track feels like an intimate conversation with a friend and hints to how vulnerable the rest of the project will be.
The fifth track, “SPIDERS,” is a clear standout. The song starts off slow but escalates into a passionate, heavy-metal rock hit by the time the chorus comes around. While singing, “I’m not a woman if I don't have you / And you're not a man if you don't have me,” Young’s raw vocals contrast effortlessly with the track’s calmer introduction. An entertaining earworm from start to finish, “SPIDERS” sets a high standard for the rest of the album.
The second track and first full song, “F**K EVERYONE,” is synth-heavy and features a mildly catchy chorus. As Young belts, “I just wanna f*ck guys who don't like me and don't mind / I just wanna f*ck girls who don't love me, they don’t mind,” she reveals the album’s hypersexual themes. Young hinted at a fluid sexuality in March, and this sexually-open track feels like an intentional start to the album. Despite its vulnerability, however, the track leaves a lot to desire. The heavy vocal manipulation and messy — no pun intended — mixing leaves it sounding like an angsty Matilda attempting to recreate Olivia Rodrigo’s “all american b*tch” (2023).
“Post Sex Clarity” offers a catchy, upbeat and more unique addition to the album. The track contrasts from the rest of the record, taking a more romantic approach to relationships. The fun pre-chorus combined with an addictive guitar backing demonstrates exactly what Young does best. While singing, “You make me feel like I could fly away” and “I still love you, and I don't know why,” Young channels positivity after the more emotionally volatile descriptions of love from earlier in the album.
Young impresses again with “CAN WE IGNORE IT? :(,” an upbeat, alt-rock anthem. Starting with a catchy drum beat and escalating to a high-energy chorus, the song is a banger from beginning to end. Less heavy metal-inspired, the track teeters on full-on pop. As she sings, “I need a little bit of something to take off the edgе,” Young makes it clear she had fun writing and producing this song. Her powerful vocals during the chorus and catchy guitar backing track make this one of the album’s top contenders for mainstream success.
“Walk All Over You” is one of the more forgettable tracks on the album. The soft backing track and guitar cannot save this song from staleness. As Young sings, “Just ’cause you're a man don't mean you can sit there / And trеat me like sh*t on your shoes,” it is clear that this song was meant to be empowering. It feels like a blander version of “Messy,” with far less replay value. Unfortunately, Young’s boots were not made for walking, because all this song inspires is a good nap.
The final track before the concluding interlude, “who f**king cares?,” is a soft, slow and emotional ballad. Young juxtaposes this tune with the emotionally-charged songs from the project, sharing something more vulnerable with her fans. However, this attempt at an emotional ballad falls short compared to those of other artists, such as Chappell Roan, who have perfected this form with great success.
With an unclear chorus and disorganized, somewhat sloppy writing, “who f**king cares?” feels unfinished. While the song presents as an emotional dump of sadness and anger, the message loses potency without a clear melody or recognizable hook. As Young cries, “And am I happy? / Truth is, I don't really know what that means anymore,” it seems more like a self-loathing voice memo than an actual song. Taking into account the bangers from earlier in the tracklist, “who f***king cares?” is an underwhelming end to the full-length songs of the album.
Immediately afterwards, the final interlude, “ur an absolute c word (interlude),” revisits the voice memo style from the beginning of the album. Rather than Apena, however, this interlude adds in spoken word-artist, Tia Shek. Here, Shek recites a beautiful poetic monologue about loneliness, childhood and family. She states, “I'm lonely and I'm hurtin' and sometimes I feel alive,” revealing the complexities of life and relationships. Perfectly encapsulating the sentiments from Young’s music, the interlude is a wonderful conclusion. The track features a tongue-in-cheek inclusion from Young during a studio session saying, “that's the end of the album, goodbye.”
Young’s careful curation and musical effort emerges on “I’m Only F**king Myself” with cohesive songs that paint a beautiful narrative of the complexity of relationships, addiction and hardships of society. Despite a few uninspired songs, this alt-pop rock record includes plenty of hits and is certainly worth a listen. The new record proves that Young can break past the “one-hit wonder” curse and find a clear foothold in the music industry.
Benjamin Salit (he/him) (28C) is double majoring in Film & Media Management and Spanish. He is from Port Washington, New York and enjoys watching horror-comedy movies with his friends late at night. Outside of the Wheel, you can find him joining clubs or watching reality TV.
