In 2009, wily pop star Lily Allen released her magnum opus It's Not Me, It's You. It was campy and searing and irreverent and honest. Sixteen years later, she's come full circle with an album that's completely different, but just as significant (upon first listen). West End Girl's closer "Fruityloops" finds Allen coming to terms with the devastation of a relationship whirlwind. "It's not me, it's you/ It's what you've always done, it's what you'll do," she sings during the slinky bossa nova chorus. West End Girl isn't as energized or cheeky as It's Not Me, It's You, but it is her strongest and most cohesive album since. Here, Allen trades in diverse, playful soundscapes for woozy and cinematic compositions that emphasize her brutal lyrical revelations.
The title track sets the scene: Allen has uprooted her life for a picture perfect romance in New York City. But it doesn't last. A career opportunity creates tension and resentment in the relationship, and she ends up back in London, alone. The tracks that follow are a devastating, detailed look at her deteriorating relationship and dating in the aftermath. On "Pussy Palace," she has the realization that a second apartment was the destination for her partner's clandestine sexcapades.
"I found a shoebox full of handwritten letters/ From brokenhearted women wishing you could have been better," goes one line. On "Madeline," she confronts a mistress that's overstepped the boundaries she set for her relationship ("We had an arrangement/ Be discrete and don't be blatant"), unable to discern if either her partner or the other woman is telling any truth. "I can't trust anything that comes out of your mouth," she sings over acoustic strums and castanets. The following line is one of the album's most striking moments: "I'm not convinced that he didn't fuck you in our house."
For some, October is unofficially the beginning of cuffing season. But Allen has created an album for the rest of the population that has to reconcile with toxic cycles, breaking bad habits, and being honest with yourself. It's swift and weightless despite the jaw-dropping details. There's the trip-poppy waltz of "Sleepwalking," the womping dub of "Beg For Me" that interpolates the 2003 dancehall hit "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)," and the immediate album highlight "Relapse." Whether literal or not, it's heartbreaking to hear these scenarios and anxieties but it's thrilling to see Allen back at the top of her game. Stream the LP below.
West End Girl is out now on BMG.
