Despite her growing popularity, singer still battles insecurities

Sophie Allison is only 20, but these days she sounds more like a much-older office worker at 4:59 p.m. on a Friday.

“Feeling drained,” the singer posted on Twitter several weeks ago.

Her fatigue isn't surprising, given her quick turnaround from New York University student to nationally lauded musician.

Allison, who performs as Soccer Mommy, will play tonight at the Rumba Cafe.

She is on her first headline tour in support of her first official album: “Clean,” a crisp but sad indie-rock record released in March.

She likes the traveling, she said, but finds the logistics — finances, merchandise sales, interviews and musicvideo filming — exhausting.

Even her 21st birthday (in late May) — typically designated for hedonistic activity — will be spent performing, at a festival in Washington. Who: Soccer Mommy Where: Rumba Cafe, 2507 Summit St. Contact: 614-268-1841, www. columbusrumbacafe.com Showtime: 8 p.m. Thursday Tickets: $12; $2 surcharge for age 20 and younger

Rather than crumple under the weight of responsibility borne by any bandleader, much less one barely removed from her teenage years, Allison drinks more water, gets a reasonable amount of sleep and tries to ignore her growing popularity.

Despite her success, much of “Clean” tackles the singer’s lack of self-confidence and surplus of self-doubt in the face of the boy she likes.

On “Cool,” the feelings come to a head, when Allison imagines a fiercer version of herself.

“I wanna be that cool,” she sings to her imagined self in a breezy falsetto.

If sold-out shows equate to coolness, Allison has fulfilled her wish.

But even maxing out half of her tour dates can’t quell her quaking insecurities.

“They’ve gotten worse, for sure,” Allison said. “I think it does for most people when they get a lot of publicity. There’s people constantly watching you and judging you for what you do.”

Fans and dissidents alike can say whatever they like about her in real time. Even when comments lean positive — such as “I’m in love with you” — they heighten her awareness that people are paying attention.

“It is a lot of getting opinions about you every day when you’re not asking for them,” she said. "I think if you asked most people to imagine that, they couldn’t.”

She’s not sure there’s a way to fully deal with the attention. Having a boyfriend who treats her like a human helps, she said. (He also plays guitar in her backing band.)

To the best of her ability, the Nashville, Tennesseebased singer tries to minimize outside distractions to better express her internal thoughts.

In the title track, Allison examines her role in a romantic infatuation that went nowhere.

She moves from all-in obsession on “Blossom (Wasting All My Time)” to comparing herself to a crush’s ex on “Last Girl” before returning to overwhelming desire on “Skin.”

The singer is adamant that “Clean” is not a breakup album.

“I think it’s more about falling in love with your breakup,” she said.

Young women’s love lives are rarely taken seriously, she said, and she doesn’t expect that fact to change.

Her listeners and the press — both of whom have given “Clean” much love — do