Laila! is only 20, but she is already thinking about how quickly being 20 disappears.
The New York singer, songwriter, and producer will release her sophomore album, We’ll Never Be This Young Again, on October 23. The 12-track record follows her 2024 debut, Gap Year, and marks the second time she has taken the lead on producing an entire album.
“I chose We’ll Never Be This Young Again because I became really obsessed with nostalgia,” Laila! told Rolling Stone. “I wanted to use that title as something people should be reminded of: Today is the youngest you’ll be.”
There has been plenty of life to document since Gap Year. Laila! moved into her first apartment at 19, toured with Kali Uchis and Mariah the Scientist, traveled, fell further into her self-described “lover girl” era, and started training in Muay Thai. That changing world made its way into the record.
“I think this project really does show the ways I’ve grown up,” she said. “I’m buying my own groceries and shit and doing everything for myself.”
She has also expanded the geography of her recording process. After building much of Gap Year from her childhood bedroom, Laila! worked on its follow-up in studios across New York, Atlanta, and Paris. She still handled most of the album herself, but told Rolling Stone she has begun figuring out how collaboration fits into a process she has historically controlled from end to end.
We’ll Never Be This Young Again includes the previously released “Miss Mango” and “Anything Could Happen,” with the title track also teased alongside this week's announcement.
What do you think?
Show comments / Leave a comment