Image Credit: Nieves González, BMG Rights Management Limited

She’s back! Lily Allen has made her return to music with new album West End Girl, eight years since her last record, No Shame. As a Londoner, Lily Allen is a “west end girl” in more ways than one. Not only was she born in the West London district of Hammersmith, she also made her West End debut in 2021. The title, the jaw-droppingly frank lyricism, and the unique cover art by Spanish artist Nieves González, depicting Allen in a blue and white polka dot puffer jacket, all make this album feel, as Allen has said herself, authentically her. Recorded in just sixteen days, West End Girl – comprising fourteen tracks – has some of the best title names Allen has released yet. I have been incredibly excited for the album since its announcement on her Instagram, following a total revamp of her profile. So, let’s delve into each song.

‘West End Girl’

Opening the album, ‘West End Girl’ has us jump straight into her experience moving to New York with another person – “And now we’re all here / We’ve moved to New York”. All arrows point to David Harbour, Lily’s ex-husband and American actor who she is known to have lived with in a Brooklyn townhouse, as revealed in a Youtube Video by Architectural Digest. Listening to ‘West End Girl,’ we hear Allen vulnerably open up about her feeling “strange” throughout this period of her marriage, as well as diving into a new career path she didn’t feel quite prepared for. 

“I got some good news, 

I got the lead in a play” 

That’s when your demeanour started 

to change, You said I’d have to audition, 

I said, “You’re deranged”

“You said I’d have to audition,” is admittedly the ultimate punch-in-the-face to hear in this situation. Her husband clearly thought she wasn’t well equipped for the role, or that she doesn’t have what it takes, emphasising the repeated sense of degradation in this album’s lyrics. The song ends on a dark tone, with the second half made to sound like an insert of a phone call to, supposedly, ex-husband Harbour. It conjures images of a relationship tested by geographical distance, conflicting schedules, and a lack of mutual support, with Lily having to move back to London for her West End debut. The lyricism is undoubtedly forthright and honest, a rollercoaster before the inevitable incline. 

‘Ruminating’

‘Ruminating’ has more of a clubby sound, and with Lily’s vocals autotuned, this song sounds like it could have featured on one of Charli XCX’s recent albums. However, the lyrics entail exactly what the title suggests; the many spiralling questions and ruminations that fill your head after someone has broken your trust. 

“Now I’m in my head, 

Ruminating, Ruminating,

All the things you said, 

Why can’t you wait for me to come home, 

This conversation’s too big for a phone call.”

Trust Lily Allen to say it like it is, there’s really not much room for interpretation here. ‘Ruminating’ captures not only the powerlessness and frustration of a partner cheating, but the dependence and jealousy that comes with it, with the line “you’re mine” repeated in the first verse and “you’re my number one” in the chorus. In the final line the prevailing question remains: “Baby will you tell me I’m still your number one,” representing the toxic self-sabotage that occurred when she was with someone disloyal, yet someone she truly loved. 

‘Sleepwalking’

It’s safe to say this song had my jaw on the floor. I absolutely love the catchy melody and chorus:

“Baby stop it, it’s three in the morning, 

And I don’t know if you do it intentionally, 

But somehow you make it my fault…”

But I just couldn’t help reading the very pointed lyrics over and over again. “Who said romance isn’t dead? Been no romance since we wed” – is directly outspoken about a loveless marriage, in which both partners are dissatisfied with each other. Allen and Harbour’s separation is something they have both addressed in various interviews since, and to see it laid out so frankly is very powerful. From “them girls in your bed,” to “I know you’ve made me your Madonna,” likely referencing the psychological phenomenon of the Madonna-Whore complex, Allen lays the truth bare. I love how Lily Allen has kept her shockingly honest lyricism, particularly at times like this. 

‘Tennis’

“Playing tennis” is a slang term for engaging in sexual acts, and the line “you won’t play with me” infers that this adulterous man plays “tennis” with other women, but not her, his wife. In the visualiser for this song on Youtube, Lily Allen is sitting on a bench and when this line plays, a tennis ball is thrown at her which she ignores, continuing to zone out into the distance. After reading through secretive text messages and dubious instagram DM’s, Allen doesn’t want to play tennis, despite her ex-husband making small attempts to. She’s left the tennis court for good. After this, two men are shown in black funeral-esque looking suits carrying a sign made of flowers reading ‘Husband,’ yet another reference to the recent split with Harbour. 

“If it was just sex,

I wouldn’t be jealous, 

You won’t play with me

And who’s Madeline?”

‘Madeline’

Well who is Madeline? Just like when I first listened to ‘Sleepwalking,’ my jaw hung off my face when I listened to this song. This “Madeline” figure who shows up in ‘Tennis’ is revealed to be one of the girls involved in this unstable marriage, appearing in her husband’s text messages. In this song, “Madeline” is revealed to have had no idea he was married, despite not being a “stranger.” More than anything else, the lyricism in this song reveals how she feels she “can’t trust anything that comes out of [his] mouth.”

The beginning of this song reminds me of old-school Lily Allen. A mix of acoustic drums and a hip-hop-like beat makes for an interesting sound, and I think it accompanies the dark lyrics really well. Like ‘West End Girl,’ it features phone-call-like inserts, this time from the titular “Madeline” telling her side of the story. I find this technique really captivating; it reminds me of the phone-call from “Stan” in Eminem’s hit song of the same title, having a powerful effect on not only the sound of the song, but also the song’s storyline. 

‘Relapse’

Over the years, Lily Allen has been open about her problems with alcohol and substance abuse. In a recent interview with British Vogue, Allen disclosed that the beginning of this year was a dark time for her. Following the break-up with Harbour, “it has been the closest she had come to relapsing,” with Allen revealing how “the last time that I felt anything like that, drugs and alcohol were my way out, so it was excruciating to sit with those [feelings] and not use them.” ‘Relapse’ is a raw display of emotions; the song explores feelings of instability, motherhood struggles, and the itch to return to bad habits. 

“I tried to be your modern wife, 

But the child in me protests.”

Frustrations of never feeling good enough, or “desirable,” dominate the lyrics with “I tried to be your modern wife / But the child in me protests” alluding to the pressures Allen felt within her marriage to be an inauthentic version of herself. Themes of flying between the UK and the US also come up in ‘Relapse,’ a necessary evil that made her feel disconnected from family, unsupported, and isolated in a place that doesn’t feel like home. 

‘Pussy Palace’

I never thought I’d see Lily Allen dressed as a nun saying “pussy palace” and “butt plug,” but here we are! Probably a fault on my part. Nonetheless, this song’s chorus is catchy but also had my eyes wide in shock, a common theme with this album so far. The opening lines “don’t come home / I don’t want you in my bed” are followed by Allen dropping off his clothes and medication to an “apartment in the West Village.” As the chorus reveals, this apartment is somewhat of a bachelor pad or “pussy palace” as Lily calls it, insinuating that this is a place many girls come to, assumedly oblivious to the fact he is married.

“I found a shoebox full of handwritten letters, 

From brokenhearted women wishing you 

could have been better”

If that verse doesn’t make your hand fly to your mouth I don’t know what will. Paired with a dreamy melody and slow beat, the lyrics couldn’t be a starker contrast. There isn’t a tone of anger in Allen’s voice, perhaps indicating that she has come out the other side, now seeing the situation through a lens of humour, or at least absurdity at the audacity of men. 

‘4chan Stan’

From going through his text messages in ‘Tennis,’ then a mystery woman’s handbag in ‘Pussy Palace,’ Allen has now gone through his bedside drawer and found receipts for an expensive handbag, bought while she was away. Listening to the album chronologically had me piecing together the developing “story” of a marriage breaking down, and it just gets worse. “It’s a marriage of convenience and it’s her you adore,” is by far one of the most heartbreaking lines of the album. 

When I first saw the title for this song, I didn’t know what to expect. Given that 4chan is a dodgy website full of people who live in their parents’ basement, I was curious as to who she could be talking about… now I think I know. I agree with Allen, sleeping with other women whilst married is something a very “sad, sad man” would do, and not even having the decency to communicate who this person is definitely makes him a “coward” to say the least. 

‘Nonmonogamummy’

The award for most creative title goes to this song right here. ‘Nonmonogamummy’ features producer and DJ, Specialist Moss, who infuses the album with a more Dub-style, electronic sound. To me, this song stands out from the rest; Specialist Moss provides the song with a sound that you don’t hear very often in today’s mainstream UK music scene. Many songs that came out in the 90s and 2000s were heavily influenced by Caribbean culture, specifically reggae. Lily Allen’s older songs have that similar influence, and it’s great to hear it make a return. 

“I just want to meet your needs,

And for some reason, 

I revert to people pleasing,

I’ll be your Nonmonogamummy, 

I’m just trying to be open.”

In this song, I get the idea that Allen and her ex-husband mutually agreed on having an ‘open’ marriage, if that is what it takes to keep the relationship together, but to no avail. The lines “you really sold me the dream,” and “a life with you looked good on paper” shows how the facade fell through, and now she sees it for what it is – her husband cheated multiple times.

I love that Lily Allen’s wittiness and tongue-in-cheek humour shows a return in this album. She pokes fun at just how dire the dating scene really is, and how a lot of times it’s underwhelming and leads to disappointment. She’s experimenting with dating apps Tinder and Hinge, differing from the celebrity dating app, Raya, which she met her ex-husband on, possibly hinting at a desire to get away from the seemingly cursed relationships between two celebs. 

‘Just Enough’

Lily’s voice in this song is haunting – the strings in the background and guitar strumming gives the song a beautifully sad sound – encapsulating the feelings of insecurity and betrayal reflected in the lyricism. If Lily Allen hadn’t been outspoken in recent interviews about her doing “OK” at the moment, I would think this is a cry for help. The subject matter is incredibly devastating, recounting her thoughts that her partner might be in love with somebody else, that she’s losing her mind, and that she’s being strung along. 

“I feel so drawn, so old,

I booked myself a facelift,

Wondering how long it might hold.”

It’s clear from these lyrics that Allen was going through a tough time with self-confidence. So often women feel like they have to wear makeup or get plastic surgery to stay youthful and beautiful to men, and to “compete” with other women, possibly younger women her husband was seeing in this case. “Wondering how long it might hold” emphasises how she felt as if time was slipping away, as if aging was happening  at a faster rate than she was prepared to accept. ‘Just Enough’ is indicative of how much hope she was being given “to hold on to,” just enough to make her stay, to stay and see if things would turn around. 

‘Dallas Major’

This song is easily in my top five from the album. Its beat is addictive with a disco-like funky feel to it, and the catchy lyrics explore Allen reinventing herself into a possible alter ego – Dallas Major. 

“My name is Dallas Major,

And I’m coming out to play,

Looking for someone to have fun with while

My husband works away.”

Here the previous tone of the album seems to get flipped on its head a little bit; this time she’s taking control and looking for someone to “have fun with”… but she hates it. Ageism, the rise and fall of fame, and the crave for validation are all things explored in this song, topics that not many celebrities have the humility to open up about.

I really like the Youtube visualiser for this song too, which shows Lily in a bar having multiple different dates and looking uninterested in every man. I find it really exposes the contrast between her experience with a dishonest marriage and her ex-husband’s, she just doesn’t have that same urge to go off with other people, even for “revenge’s” sake, leaving her confused and at a loss of what to do next. 

‘Beg For Me’

At the heart of ‘Beg For Me’ are Lily’s frustrations of not feeling wanted or desired, which is really asking for the bare minimum in a relationship. 

“Where’s your empathy for, for all my pain,

My friends all tell me you are deranged.” 

‘Beg For Me’ isn’t amongst my faves of this album, in a way I feel as if it encourages a toxic relationship where one isn’t committed and the other craves attachment. The line “if you want me to stay, I’ll never leave you,” highlights this for me, but at the same time I understand how it may also represent how love can blind you into wanting what’s not best for you, as long as you’re together. 

‘Let You W/In’

Like all the songs on this album, ‘Let You W/In’ is ultimately a devastating song about a partner changing everything irrevocably, and the journey in figuring it all out while having children. This track really highlights how it might look like Lily has “everything”: a nice expensive house, celebrity status, and a happy family. But as with most things, it’s not as it seems. 

“I’ve become invisible,

Stuck here in my palace, 

I’m so fucking miserable,

In my rabbit hole, yeah I’m Alice.” 

There’s a sentiment in this song that mirrors a lot of celebrity relationships, and that is how men usually get away with being unfaithful, awful human beings, scot free. Time and time again in the entertainment industry, men rise above scandals and even legal charges, continuing to thrive in their field. Women, on the other hand, are often held to impossibly high standards. Lily exposes how she feels she’s experiencing similar in lines: “I’m protecting you from your secrets,” and “what is it you sacrifice?” 

‘Fruityloop’

I am obsessed with Lily Allen’s vocals in this song, especially in the chorus’ lines “It’s not me / It’s you.” This reference to her 2009 album of the same title gives this album a bit of a full circle moment. The delivery of this line comes off to me that she has come to terms with how her ex-husband never really cared about saving the relationship, and there was nothing she could have done to save it. 

“Wish I could fix all your shit,

But all your shit’s yours to fix.”

In a way, this song is also her psychological exploration into why her ex-husband felt he had to cheat, almost like detailing a therapy session. In the first verse, Allen suggests he has attachment issues that arose from childhood, making it hard for him to commit and stay with one person: “You’re just a little boy looking for his mummy.” The title likely refers to this link to childhood too, with the line, “you’re stuck inside your fruity loop,” giving the impression that he never really grew up, and that he’s “stuck” repeating harmful behaviour from this possibly unhealed childhood trauma. 

‘Fruityloop’ is the perfect end to this album, providing a sense of acceptance and closure in the chorus, probably my favourite of the whole album, sonically. West End Girl will have you crying, zoning out into space, and feeling compelled to dance all at the same time. We hear her side of the story, albeit worthy to remember Lily has had her own fair share of messy controversies over the years. Overall, I really enjoyed this album, and with a UK tour just announced, I am eager to hear it live.