(BMG)
Allen’s first album in seven years traces the fallout from an open relationship, but as well as being cathartic and candid, these stylistically varied songs have melodies that sparkle
It is seven years since Lily Allen last released an album. No Shame was Mercury-nominated and far better reviewed than 2014’s Sheezus – not least by Allen herself – but it was also her lowest-selling album to date. You could have taken that as evidence pop had moved on. In Britain, 2018 was a year that the well-mannered boy/girl-next-door pop of George Ezra, Jess Glynne and Ed Sheeran held sway; Allen seemed symbolic of a messier, mouthier era. Afterwards, Allen stepped away from music, concentrating instead on what you’d have to call a diverse portfolio of interests, including acting, podcasting, launching her own sex toy and selling photographs of her feet to fetishists on OnlyFans.
But pop has a habit of developing in a cyclical way. When Olivia Rodrigo brought Allen on stage at Glastonbury in 2022, it highlighted how deep her impact on the younger artist’s songwriting ran: you could trace a direct line between Allen’s splenetic, sweary Smile and Rodrigo’s similarly forthright brand of breakup anthems. And Rodrigo is merely one among a succession of younger female artists claiming Allen’s influence: Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx, PinkPantheress. If Lola Young had a fiver for every time she was compared to Allen, she would never need to work again.
