The south Londoner’s honesty about her vices has made her a gen Z hero: she was in rehab when her biggest hit was blowing up. Singing about sex on her new album, she says, is a way to mask the pain
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ast November, Lola Young was finally having her moment. Messy, a track from her second album, This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway, was blowing up on TikTok. Celebrities such as Kylie Jenner were using the track in their clips, and it had quickly permeated the barrier to the real world, becoming a staple of Uber rides and Christmas shopping trips in a matter of days. Even if you wouldn’t recognise Young if she passed you on the street, you’d know the song and its ironclad hook: “Cause I’m too messy! And then I’m too fucking clean … ”
Other stars might have taken a moment to enjoy the spoils, or strategise on how best to capitalise on the newfound success. But as Messy was rising in the charts, Young was checking into a rehab facility to deal with a cocaine addiction that had dogged her for “a long time”. By January, she was back doing Pop Star Things: performing on Graham Norton and Jimmy Fallon, performing a cover of a Cure song for an Australian radio station, and so on.
“It’s been a struggle – I’ve definitely had to work on some internal healing while grappling with touring and stuff,” she says quietly on a muggy afternoon in late August. “I’ve had to be away for a bit while battling with things. But it teaches you a lot, being addicted to substances. It makes you more empathetic about other people that have gone through that. It’s just a constant journey.”
