Friday 6 February 2009

The daughter of Keith proves that spending years writing a record really can pay off with her sophomore effort.

Lily Allen - 'It's Not Me, It's You' (EMI)
You know The Fear. It flew to #1 in Britain. People love its celebrity culture references, not to mention that silky, catchy chorus. Much of 'It's Not Me, It's You' continues in the same vain, although parts are better still. Preceedings open with Everyone's At It, a commentary on society's love of drugs which manages to amuse with its good intentions without sounding condescending. The psychadelic synths which open affairs are so easily-imprinted on the mind that the song is an obvious candidate for a future single. Elsewhere on the album, Allen talks about her relationship with her father (He Wasn't There) but that closing song proves much less interesting than the uneasy story of she and her sister, told on the frantic Back To The Start, boasting the most apparent electro vibe on the set, the energy relenting for a moment during a reflective middle 8.

Two songs are so captivating that they demand numerous, immediate repeat listens. I Could Say sees Lily liberated by the fold of a relationship ('now you've gone it's as if the whole wide world is my stage'), complete with piano chords and soaring strings which compliment the emotion in Allen's street vocals like nothing else. Chinese is an ode to the mundanity of daily life spent with somebody special (her mother, some have argued); 'I'll be exhausted so I'll probably sleep / Then we'll get a chinese and watch TV'; a prime example of how easily Lily connects with her audience even when singing of a private and complex relationship which might otherwise seem self-indulgent. Not everything is so successful; Who'd Have Known pinches the melody from Take That's Shine, which was already too cheeky to bear when it dominated the airwaves a couple of summers back. The end result sounds weak and makes for the least-inspired song on the record.

It's a minor blip, though. She's back to her best on Him, pondering how God would cope with modern society; 'He doesn't know who's right or wrong / This has been going on too long'. It's the simple brilliance of Allen's writing, covering topics the rest of us had never even considered, which makes many of the songs here so magical. 22 is a roughly auto-biographical number which mourns the tendancy we have to write-off party animals as losers heading nowhere, whilst Not Fair is a pleasingly seedy tale of a lover who is perfect in every respect - except in bed ('you never make me scream!').

'INM,IY' far surpasses expectations. Few popstars can get away with unleashing a successful debut album before disappearing from music completely for twenty-four months, too busy fronting chat shows or experimenting with new hair colours. Then again, few popstars have the sheer talent or appeal to pull off an album such as this. A mention must go to the undeniably perfect partnership of Allen and her collaberator Greg Kurstin, a producer so flexible he can work with Donna Summer, Kylie Minogue or on his own pet project The Bird and The Bee without sounding anything but at home.

'It's Not Me, It's You' is the album of the year; quirky, majestic, and shamelessly pop.

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