Lily Allen’s West End Girl: Pop star details ‘intensely personal’ journey through divorce from cheating husband David Harbour, ADRIAN THRILLS reviews her captivating breakup album
LILY ALLEN: West Side Girl (BMG)
Verdict: Fascinating breakup album
Most pop stars returning to the fray after a seven-year hiatus will find themselves facing an uphill battle, and their musical tastes will inevitably change over time. Lily Allen is an exception.
His fame grew even more in his absence, with young female singers citing his smart, talkative pop style as an inspiration.
Billie Eilish cried when she first heard Allen’s 2006 debut single Smile, and British singer PinkPantheress thinks Lily’s honesty gave her the confidence to “speak like me.”
More importantly, superstar Olivia Rodrigo invited Lily to duet with her at Glastonbury in 2022 and brought her on stage again during her Guts tour, which reached London’s O2 Arena in 2024.
It was these guest appearances that convinced Allen, 40, to return to the studio for the first time since his 2018 album No Shame.
Lily Allen’s new album, West End Girl, takes its title from her raw, confessional content, drawing on her experience acting on the London stage and the breakdown of her relationship with actor David Harbour.
Lily and David split in January after four years of marriage, amid allegations of infidelity, with Lily recently revealing that the upheaval left her feeling suicidal.
The result is a new album: West End Girl, whose title is inspired by her acting experience on the London stage… and whose raw, confessional content draws from the breakdown of her relationship with Stranger Things actor David Harbour.
Allen and Harbor split in January after four years of marriage, amid allegations of infidelity, and Allen recently revealed that the upheaval left him feeling suicidal.
He has since emphasized that his new album’s lyrics are a mix of fact and fiction, but it’s hard to listen to the 14 gripping narratives here without thinking deeply personally.
The album kicks off with the title track, a string-filled bossa nova that begins with Lily’s heroine starting an idyllic new life in New York with her perfect man.
But once she returns to London to rehearse a play, the fairy tale unravels when a phone call from America tells the tearful singer that her dream lover wants a non-monogamous relationship.
A roller-coaster ride begins. Lily’s confusion grows as she is haunted by images of a partner’s betrayal (“I can’t shake the image of her naked”) in Rumining, and her imagination runs riot with the gentle doo-wop lullaby called Sleepwalking.
‘You won’t love me, you won’t leave me,’ he sings. ‘I don’t know if you’re doing this on purpose, but somehow you’re making this my fault.’
After discovering suspicious text messages, he confronts the other woman in Madeline (“Is it just sex, or are there feelings?”), then considers drowning her sorrows in Relapse and reluctantly signs up for a dating app in Dallas Major, confessing in her snarky online profile that she’s the mother of teenage boys. ‘Does this sound fun to you?’ he asks.
He has since emphasized that his new album’s lyrics are a mix of fact and fiction, but it’s hard to listen to the 14 gripping narratives here without thinking deeply personally.
From Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black to Adele’s 21, breakup albums have long been a staple of great pop. Lily Allen makes a fascinating contribution to the genre with West End Girl
It reaches a low point on the indie pop song Just Enough, but eventually finds some solace on the closing track Fruityloop. ‘It’s not me, it’s you,’ he concludes, making a brief throwback to the title of his second album, released in 2009.
Despite the heartache, or perhaps because of it, he seems artistically reinvigorated. Working with producer Blue May, she intimately chronicles the course of a breakup against a backdrop of taut drum and bass, melodic ballads and, in Madeline, flamenco guitar and castanets.
There’s a lot of autotune in her voice at times, but there’s no doubting her ability to convey raw emotion with sharp, concise pop.
From Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors to Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black and Adele’s 21, breakup albums have long been a staple of major pop. Lily Allen made a fascinating contribution to the genre with West End Girl.
