Lola Young
The South London powerhouse teases her new album, I’m Only F**king Myself, with a gut-spilling ballad about fear, self-sabotage, and survival
Lola Young has never been interested in playing it safe — the 24-year-old South London singer has built her reputation on torching expectations — whether it’s penning a platinum-selling breakup anthem that topped the U.K. charts or getting brutally candid about her own messiest moments. On her new single “Spiders,” she doubles down, dragging her demons into the light and daring them to bite back.
“Sometimes you want to kill what you’re most scared of in life,” Young says of the song. “But when you actually face up to it, it’s really not as scary as you thought it would be.”
It’s a fitting metaphor for her career so far, Young’s latest track, a slow-burn ballad that mutates into a gut-punch chorus, feels like the ghost of ‘90s grunge colliding with the intimacy of a diary entry. The guitars snarl, the production bleeds, and her voice — raspy and honest — does the rest. “Spiders” is the sound of someone staring down their own reflection and refusing to look away.
The single sets the tone for I’m Only F**king Myself (out September 19), an album that promises to be as raw and unusual as its title. Co-written with trusted collaborators Manuka and SOLOMONOPHONIC (whose fingerprints are on tracks from Doja Cat and SZA), the record circles themes of self-sabotage, toxic patterns, and clawing your way back from the brink. Recent singles “d£aler,” “Not Like That Anymore,” and “One Thing” hinted at it; “Spiders” makes it explicit.
Over the past two years Lola Young has emerged as one of Britain’s most fearless voices, she snagged the Ivor Novello Rising Star award, earned a BRIT nomination, and scored a career-making collaboration with Tyler, The Creator on “Like Him.” She turned Lil Yachty’s woozy psychedelia into a strange, brilliant duet (“Charlie”), then went on to conquer Coachella, Glastonbury, and Paris’ Lollapalooza — all before opening for Billie Eilish in front of 20,000 people in Paris. Not bad for someone who’s barely old enough to rent a car in the States.
And if you think this momentum is slowing, think again, to celebrate the new record, Young will squeeze into record shops later this month for a handful of sweaty, up-close shows before launching her biggest headline run yet across the U.K. in October. Every single date is already sold out — including back-to-back nights at Manchester’s O2 Victoria Warehouse and a two-night takeover of London’s O2 Brixton Academy. She’ll hit North America in November, then Europe in 2026, marking her first true headlining tour across the continent.
With over a billion streams to her name, a platinum No. 1 single (“Messy”) that dominated the charts for four weeks straight, and a reputation for refusing to bullshit anyone — least of all herself — Lola Young is standing at the brink of something bigger.
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