UK 00s popstar, Lily Allen released her fifth studio album West End Girl, recorded over less than 10 days in Los Angeles. Ostensibly a concept album about a break up with her also-famous ex-husband, the album made a splash due to its intimate private lyrics and themes which double as a criticism of male chauvinism. Hence we get a series of emotionally complex numbers that mix between old fashioned styles and new electronic styles. The arrangements are adequately varied but generally, there is more to say lyrically than musically.
In the retro category, there is the opener, West End Girl based musically on a rather stale jazz guitar loop though its optimistic demeanour is cracked by a phone call interlude, which functions as a prologue to the rest of the album. Secondly, there is the waltzing ballad of Sleepwalking returns to the format of the 50s brill builders – her natural domain – but curiously briefly disrupted by an industrial synth. And especially Tennis with blues guitar and piano interplay and lyrically, a dialogue between Allen and her husband’s oblivious mistress which basically parodies its own tragedy with a nursery rhyme-like melody. The spaghetti western (a la Belle Sebastien) Madeline straddles the line between the two modes with a rapid-fire delivery and a mournful melody on the chorus followed by a second half, which adds a hip-hop beat (perhaps the cinematic peak).
On the modern end, there is the glitchy and oppresive Charli XCX-esque autotuned ballad Ruminating and its more serene counterpart, Relapse with a downcast atmosphere courtesy of a poignant keyboard melody. The staccato piano-led 4chan stan with a satirical chorus is simultaneously lyrically vitriolic and musically laidback, but sounds melodically copied from Doja Cat’s Kiss Me More. The vaguely ska-derived Nonomonogamummy acts out a sort of dating psychoanalysis. Meanwhile, the monotonous Dallas Major, accentuated by funk keyboards and a hip-hop atmosphere is another anti-dating anthem with the succinct refrain “I hate it”.
Among the most musically ambitious moments is the cyclical folk arpeggios and gentle spiralling lullaby of Just Enough (reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens and his baroque-folk acolytes). Then the, angsty Beg For Me with a claustrophobic (ever so slightly) industrial atmosphere, with a piano-led refrain (with production derivative of Lorde’s Pure Heroine). And the bittersweet ending is canonised with Fruityloop (“you’re a mess, I’m a bitch”, but also “its not me, its you”). Wether purposefully or not, it is not always clear if Allen is a reliable narrator.
While the story is compelling, the musical accompaniment often don’t do enough to elevate the stories or heighten the emotions, even on the best tracks. Very few of the songs would stand out by themselves without the narrative arc. Nonetheless, fun as a sort of pop counterpart to Fiona Apple’s Fetch The Bolt Cutters.
Label: BMG
Released: 24 October, 2025
Losing My Edge Rating: 6/10
Best Tracks: Madeline, Tennis, Beg For Me