Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
Digg
Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
For most albums, the initial track is an indicator of how the rest of the songs are going to play out. With Lily Allen’s “It’s Not Me, It’s You,” the first number is witty, poignant and just a bit foul. It sets the expected pace for a CD from the doe-eyed, foul-mouthed Londoner.
“Everyone’s At It” is social satire about the growing dependence on prescription medication witnessed both in America and Allen’s native England. Allen sings “How can we start to tackle the problem / If you don’t put your hands up / And admit that you’re on them,” and wonders when people will stop “putting s— up our noses.” Not particularly novel questions, but it is surprising to see Allen stop and write about something deeper than riding around London on her bike or ditching sleazy bar rats.
Allen continues to poke fun at us all with the first track on the album to get radio play. Clearly ironic, “The Fear” is a jab at the wealthy stereotypes and ideals that have closed in on her since achieving fame. “Life’s about film stars and less about mothers / It’s all about fast cars and cussing each other,” sums up the entire disc and gives insight into the performer’s world.
“Not Fair” gets to what fans of Allen are waiting for. It’s a saucy, entertaining bit about her attraction to a man who is “just no good” in bed. The classic story of a couple who click everywhere except the bedroom, “Not Fair” comes at you from out of nowhere after the more mellow introductory songs and makes rival Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” sound chaste.
On her last album, Allen had a song about her little brother, “Alfie,” that sounded sweet and sugary but was actually fantastically foul. “F— You,” with its dainty, twinkling piano, is undoubtedly this year’s “Alfie.” An open letter to a bigot originally titled “GWB,” this track ends up being the standout of the album. There may be no chorus more perfect for Allen’s candy-coated-arsenic voice than “F— you.” “F— you / Very, very much.” With the lines “You want to be / Like your father / His approval you’re after,” it’s not a stretch to imagine who it’s written about.
Allen uses her sophomore release as a chance to play dress-up, clothing her lyrics with back-tracks that draw inspiration from westerns, Flamenco music and electronica. The deviation from the more relaxed, hip-hop style of her first album is striking, but her use of language – profane or clean – is comfortingly familiar.
The release as a whole has a much more grown-up feeling. Since 2006′s “Alight, Still,” Allen has experienced a failed relationship, miscarriage and constant media hounding. While these experiences have not fully hardened her, the music she writes has taken on a more bittersweet tone when compared to her sharp, upbeat debut. The end result is a myriad of listening experiences that combine into a solid album worth the three-year wait.
Grade: B+
Bangor Daily News