Lily Allen is a huge influence on the current generation of conversational, gleefully messy pop stars, but she hasn't released any music of her own in a while. No Shame, her most recent album, came out back in 2018. But Allen has remained culturally present in different ways: Publishing a memoir, hosting a podcast, selling a vibrator, acting in big productions on London's West End, defending the entire idea of nepo babies. Now, she's finally ready to return with a new album.
Lily Allen's new album, her first in seven years, does not yet have a title or a release date. But we know a few things about it, since Allen is the subject of a huge new profile in British Vogue. According to writer Olivia Marks, Allen recorded the album in a 16-day stretch last December, when she was in the middle of a breakup with her second husband, the actor David Harbour. Here's how Marks describes the record: "It is, quite possibly, Lily at the very peak of her powers: the gut-punch lyrics, now with added years on the clock, are set to infectious pop, and her pitch-perfect voice is at its most beautifully fragile. Frankly, it will eviscerate you."
There's been a lot of online gossip about Harbour allegedly cheating on Allen, and it sure sounds like she addresses all of that on the record. Here are some lyrics that the article quotes: "You let me think it was me in my head/ And nothing to do with them girls in your bed," "You know, I used to be quite famous, that was way back in the day/ I probably should explain how my marriage has been open since my husband went astray," "What a sad, sad man/ It’s giving 4chan stan." Allen tells Marks, "There are things that are on the record that I experienced within my marriage, but that’s not to say that it’s all gospel. It is inspired by what went on in the relationship."
Those lyrics look pretty promising to me! Lily Allen is now the 40-year-old mother of two teenagers, but I love the idea that she can still summon the pissed-off, condescending energy that she had when she first emerged two decades ago. You can read the full profile here. Also, you will be relieved to learn that Allen is back on TikTok.
