It’s Not Me it’s You: Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’ Album Review

Lily Allen credit: Charlie Denis

Written by Amy Alexander, edited by Charlotte Lewis

Mainstream British artist, Lily Allen has been thrust into the media limelight with her divorce from sci-fi series Stranger Things actor David Harbour, of which she shines a harsh light on in her second album “West End Girl”. Allen, married to Harbour for four years, wrote and recorded the entire album in ten days, delivering a real-time account of the breakdown of their relationship. 

Describing herself as a “modern wife” in ‘Relapse’, Allen gives a first-hand detailing of the toll her marriage took on her, and the guilt she felt trying to be a role model for her daughters amid her weary choice to agree to an open relationship. ‘Relapse’ is an album-defining track and an honest account of Allen’s unsteady relationship with alcohol, having been sober since 2019. 

Allen’s post-mortem of her relationship has come under scrutiny though, with fans critical of her tongue-in-cheek and distasteful lyricism. Take the lyrics from ‘Pussy Palace’ where she describes finding “sex toys, butt plugs, lube inside / Hundreds of Trojans” in a bag inside her now-ex husband’s West Village apartment, an ode to his apparent sex addiction and Allen’s realisation Harbour had broken the terms of their open relationship. 

Many online have spoken out against the crude lyrics, and even go as far as feeling remorse for Harbour and demanding Allen remove her album from streaming platforms. A rhetorical question comes to mind here: how often do we make lavish demands from artists who simply want to share their story, their life’s work? 

Image - Architectural digest screen grab

What comes to mind amid Allen’s online criticism is the Taylor Swift X Charli XCX “feud”: a PR executive’s dream. Nothing has been explicitly said by either artist, yet millions online thrash and brawl and scrutinise to no end on who they think is in the wrong. Again, neither artist has actually weighed in on the speculation, and that is for a reason. Similarly with Allen telling British Vogue that this album is not “all gospel”, there’s an element of poetic speculation intertwined through each track; I think we can assume this album went through a fine-tooth comb before the release date. 

Artists like Lily Allen, and Charli XCX, and Taylor Swift ultimately profit from the speculation and the autopsy fans perform on their work. Allen’s latest album and the online backlash she has faced only exacerbates the fractured relationship artists have with the media and with online “critics” whose sole job is to stoke the fire. 

Allen’s hyperpersonal storytelling of her divorce was sudden and slightly unexpected, but it captures the boldness we need more of in music. It’s relatable to no end, and sheds light on the abuse of open relationships, and that the ideal of a “modern wife” is an impossible feat. It’s difficult to gauge the longevity and lasting impact of “West End Girl” but it is quite something for Allen to release an exposé on a poignant and life-altering period of her life. 

Listen to “West End Girl” Here: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Dn3Z14YfT2gQVDgLmWUVn?si=Lmf7hdijSI-3MvANl1PmWA

Lily Allen - ‘West End Girl’ Album cover art