LILY ALLEN, It's Not Me, It's You Regal ****Round two for Lily Allen – former gobby chav songstress, failed BBC3 chat show host and one of the few new "keepin'-it-real" pop star types it was easy to like – has turned into a surprisingly steady experience.
There was a time, post-2006 debut Alright, Still, when she was everywhere and disliked by virtually everyone, but she did what any sensible person would do: disappeared (part of this album was written and recorded in a cottage in leafy Moreton-on-Marsh), got her act together (James Blunt's global management team came on board), and wrote some brilliant pop songs (including new single, The Fear).
Allen’s detractors will probably not be swayed; her creative template of writing about the banal is pretty much unaltered. Here are songs about ordinary things: going for a takeaway, bringing it back to the gaff and watching TV; the tough guy who shyly calls her “baby”; the nice guy who is rubbish in bed; the dad who wasn’t there but whom she still loves.
But all are terrifically observed and delivered in a singularly British way, yet housed in an exceptionally diverse range of styles (reggae, chanson, pop, ballad, etc). Clearly, Allen has set her sights on the US, fully roping in Pink/Kylie mainstay Greg Kurstin as producer and full-blown co-songwriter.
Kurstin also helped out on Alright, Still, but the result here is far more than breezy angularity, geezer in-jokes and pokes at the failings of blokes. Strip away the insularity and you realise that most of the material has a broader worldview. Unlike the occasional grandstanding pomp of, say, REM, U2, Radiohead, and Coldplay, Allen points out the small details in the big picture with poise, delicacy, humour and a few swear words.
Lily Allen is the voice of reason down the country pub, cleverly pointing out the drawbacks of politics, relationships and religion between finishing a packet of crisps and starting the next game of darts. Kirsty MacColl for the Facebook generation? Too right, mate. www.lilyallenmusic.com
Download tracks: The Fear, I Could Say, Who'd Have Known
