We knew it was coming, but not this soon! Lily Allen has just surprise announced her fifth studio album West End Girl, set for release this Friday, 24th October.
The record released via BMG will feature 14 brand new tracks, all written and recorded over just ten days in Los Angeles last December. It takes inspiration from her relocation to New York, setting the stage for what promises to be a funny, poignant and unflinchingly frank reflection on her life to date. Something she has long been known for.
Tracklist:
WEST END GIRL
RUMINATING
SLEEPWALKING
TENNIS
MADELINE
RELAPSE
PUSSY PALACE
4CHAN STAN
NONMONOGAMUMMY
JUST ENOUGH
DALLAS MAJOR
BEG FOR ME
LET YOU W/IN
FRUITYLOOP
Allen says she feels nervous in the press release for the album. “The record is vulnerable in a way that my music perhaps hasn’t been before, certainly not over the course of a whole album. I’ve tried to document my life in a new city and the events that led me to where I am in my life now. At the same time, I’ve used shared experiences as the basis for songs which try to delve into why we humans behave as we do, so the record is a mixture of fact and fiction which I hope serves as a reminder of how stoic yet also how frail we humans can be. In that respect I think it’s very much an album about the complexities of relationships and how we all navigate them. It’s a story…”
Since her 2006 debut Alright, Still, Allen has carved a singular path through British pop, pairing razor sharp wit with heartbreak and social commentary on hits like “Smile”, “The Fear” and “Hard Out Here”. Her follow ups It’s Not Me, It’s You, Sheezus and No Shame each reflected new eras of personal and creative evolution, earning Mercury Prize and BRIT nominations along the way.
In recent years Allen has shifted her focus to acting, making her acclaimed West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story and starring in the Sky comedy Dreamland. But West End Girl marks a welcome return to her musical roots, with the promise of honesty, humour and pop precision that made her a household name in the first place.
We cannot wait for the Lily shaped void in pop music to be filled this week.
