Released: 17 April
Fearless Records
Pop-rock singer-songwriter LØLØ is what you might call Olivia Rodrigo’s edgier alter-ego. Nowhere is that clearer than on her brand new record, god forbid a girl spits out her feelings. A self-confessed fan since she dropped ‘debbie downer‘ alongside Maggie Lindemann, LØLØ’s music has always had a knack for churning out some of the catchiest melodies this side of peak Avril Lavigne. On her sophomore record (and Fearless Records debut), she bares her truest vulnerabilities yet, and it suits her.
Alongside that vulnerability, she pours out songs that are endlessly relatable. Second track ‘me with no shirt on‘ lays bare a girl’s natural anxiety when her man suddenly gets too comfortable in the relationship.
Meanwhile, ‘dumbest girl in the world‘ delivers a fizzy yet acid-tongued blend of guitar work that captures the whirlwind of the past few years of LØLØ’s life. Ultimately, she’s becoming a trailblazer in her own right, officially in her own lane, no longer riding on a wave of nostalgia.
‘hung up on u‘ is an unabashedly sweet rush of a track. It’s all warmth and swooning energy, like the giddy early days of falling for someone and not being able to shake them from your head. Musically it leans bubblegum-bright, sugary hooks stacked over a bouncy, lovesick groove that makes it near impossible not to smile. It’s the album’s most purely joyful moment, and a welcome exhale before things get messier.
‘delusional darling’ ups the ante, crashing drums punching through the chorus with a satisfying edge. It’s about validating those anxious, spiralling thoughts that a guy can trigger when you’re not quite sure where you stand in a situationship. It idyllically describes that painful in-between of wanting reassurance and talking yourself out of needing it. The vulnerability hits harder for how unflinching it is.
‘the punisher’ pulls back, opening with a country twang that feels like a slow exhale after the chaos. It builds quietly, and it’s not until the chorus lands that you get LØLØ at her most disarmingly tender, genuinely sweet in a way that catches you off guard. That said, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of ‘the devil wears converse’, which had a sharpness and immediacy this one narrowly misses.
‘the devil wears converse’ is the star of this record. But first, ‘007‘ earns its place as a sharp little interlude between the two. Full of attitude and dry wit, the guitars carry a polished, mature confidence that signals just how far LØLØ has come in only a handful of releases.
Then ‘the devil wears converse’ arrives, and it’s an instant reminder of why this track has lived rent-free in playlists since it dropped earlier this year. It’s a nonstop bop, the kind of song you catch yourself singing along to without even realising it. Drenched in 2000s nostalgia, it has all the ingredients of a certified pop-punk anthem. From the infectious hooks, the propulsive energy, and the razor-sharp attitude, this track delivers on every single one of them.
Something I’ve always enjoyed about LØLØ’s music is her quirky, creative song titles, so ‘whiskey & coke’ was one I was quietly curious about. It exceeded expectations dramatically. With a title like that you’d brace for an upbeat rock track, but what we get instead is a sultry, dreamy ballad that perspires love song energy, with a warmth and haze that feels like a lost Avril Lavigne deep cut from her mid-2000s era.
That ambience eases us into a softer stretch of the record. ‘stuff like that‘ and ‘american zombie‘ serve as decent connective tissue between ‘the devil wears converse’ and ‘whiskey & coke’, though neither quite commands the same attention. They kind of float by pleasantly enough without leaving much of a mark.
‘boy who doesn’t want to’ strips things back further, showcasing the side of LØLØ that is most at home with just a girl, a guitar, and something worth singing about. Then ‘lobotomy & u’ brings the album home in a way that feels genuinely earned. It’s a quiet pivot from the sharp, hook-driven force she’s proven herself to be, into something more intimate. Much of the track is just her raw, lived-in voice and moody guitar strums, and it’s in that unguarded simplicity that she reveals perhaps her most compelling dimension yet: a modern-day pop-rock songstress who doesn’t need the noise to make you feel it.
This is a record that holds its own alongside some of the female voices that soundtracked your high school years. But what cuts through the noise is something more personal than nostalgia. This is a woman who has grown up right alongside the rest of us. LØLØ has lived through heartache, burnt through the highs and lows of a career still very much in the making, and yet somehow still manages to find the light at the end of it.
We’re all for speaking up for what you feel, and god forbid a girl spits out her feelings is the album you need in your life for exactly those moments when you just can’t.
Rating: 8/10
Review by Tamara May
Listen/Purchase god forbid a girl spits out her feelings! here
LØLØ – god forbid a girl spits out her feelings! tracklisting:
1. god forbid a girl spits out her feelings!
2. me with no shirt on
3. dumbest girl in the world
4. hung up on u
5. delusional darling
6. the punisher
7. 007
8. the devil wears converse
9. stuff like that
10. whiskey & coke
11. american zombie
12. boy who doesn’t want to
13. lobotomy & u