By Colin 
Isla Mae has never been afraid to tell the truth in her songs. Her new single ‘What Love Will Do to You’ takes that honesty to a sharper, more pointed place. Releasing on 25th July, the track finds the 18-year-old singer-songwriter navigating teenage heartbreak from the outside looking in.
The single arrives as Isla begins work on her third EP, following the release of Halfway to the Sun in 2024. Best known for her folk and acoustic stylings, Isla shifts gear here with a track that leans into pop without losing its emotional centre. Catchy and cathartic, the song blends layered vocals with a pulsing beat that lifts the tension line by line.
‘What Love Will Do to You’ describes the pain of watching a girl fall for someone who will not treat her right. The lyrics are raw and direct, with the narrator attempting to warn her while knowing the words will not land. It is a perspective rarely explored this clearly. The narrator is not jealous but wounded by how badly love can go when it is given to the wrong person.
Gritty pop with storytelling at its heart
There is a theatrical energy in Isla’s delivery, but it is grounded in genuine hurt. Lines like “you’re a stone cold stoner / if she showed her mother / she would faint there on the porch” do not just land for shock value. They sting because they feel lived-in and true.
As the track develops, so does the narrator’s sense of powerlessness. They watch the girl change into someone harder, someone dimmed by the experience. That blend of detail and feeling is something Isla has always excelled at.
The track’s second half leans into sadness, especially in lines like “I see her around / well I don’t see her anymore / sort of see a shadow now.” The pop structure gives it weight, allowing those lyrics to breathe, even as the rhythm keeps driving forward.
Review
‘What Love Will Do to You’ is Isla Mae’s boldest track yet. It does not reinvent her sound, but it opens new space within it. There are sharper edges, bigger hooks, and no less heart. Isla continues to prove she can turn a private ache into a public anthem. This is another step forward for a songwriter whose voice deserves the volume.
You can follow Isla Mae here.
Lyrics – ‘What Love Will Do to You’
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The lazy studs and their petty wars
She’s opening minds while you’re kicking floors
In a boyband playing punk
And you’re a kid
You think you’re everything
But I know what you did
You’ll break her heart and go off the grid
‘Cause the rumours aren’t just fun
So it was agonising agonising agonising
Oh watching her eyes watching her eyes follow it
Agonising agonising agonising
And I tried to say
Chorus
You’re a stone cold stoner
If she showed her mother
She would faint there on the porch
And she’d beg you to leave
You better treat her
You better treat her nicely
Oh oh oh
‘Cause you’re a no job loser
Why’d you have to choose her
Wrap her round your finger so tight
That she’s starting to bleed
You better treat her
You better treat her nicely
I see her around
Well I don’t see her anymore
Sort of see a shadow now
The older her but she’s twice as loud
With a little bit of you in her eyes
And I bet that you don’t know
The way she laughs at her favourite TV show
Or when she talks how her eyes they glow
Yeah you left that all to die
So it was agonising agonising agonising
Oh watching her eyes watching her eyes follow it
Agonising agonising agonising
And I tried to say
Chorus
Oh and that’s what love will do to you
Do to you
Do to you
And that’s what love will do to you
Do to you
Do to you
I bet you don’t need her
I bet you don’t need her
I bet you don’t need her like I do
I bet you don’t love her
I bet you don’t love her
I bet you don’t love her like I do
Chorus
Oh and that’s what love will do to you
Do to you
Do to you
And that’s what love will do to you
Do to you
Do to you