It creeps and flees again in South London, it sprouts and greens. A city awakens to new life and with it a completely new world. And there she comes, cycling through the streets as a kind of new Lily Allen: the 22-year-old who is responsible for it. Because Lola Young hits one musical flick flack after the other. “Sometimes one encounter changes a lifetime,” philosophizes Nick Shymansky, the man who managed Amy Winehouse and now her. Together with Nick Huggett, the man who signed Adele. Now it’s our turn.
Beauty meets edge of hand
Lola has mixed roots by birth: her mother is English, her father is half Jamaican, half Chinese, and together they organized salsa nights. And hey, her aunt invented the famous Gruffalo child character! And as many different topics (like family, depression, politics) Lola deals with in her lyrics, she packs as much into her songs musically. She can curse and lament like Mike Skinner (also with a typical accent, welcome to Saaf London!), but at the same time, despite her slightly hoarse voice, whisper sweetly like Adele.
Buttery ballads work with a hip-hop foundation, breakbeats combine with ringing Motown sound and easy-listening swabs. She can be hopelessly poppy and write hymns that are bigger than life, but she can also be quirky and mean-spirited. Beauty meets edge of hand! Rolled chippings on your asphalt! Joni Mitchell and Kanye West together at the same table! Later the Arctic Monkeys join them!
Lola Young has that certain sparkle that makes the difference. At the same time, she says about herself: “I’m toxic as fuck.” The album title shows how she deals with her bipolar disorder. And if a note sounds very strange or off the mark – that’s the way it should be. The work ends with a bombastic, grandiose finale. James Bond is already waiting with the engines running. What was I trying to say? Great record, exactly!
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