Lily Allen’s been flirting with a comeback ever since she joined Olivia Rodrigo onstage at Glastonbury Pageant 2022. The pair’s joyous, fiery rendition of Allen’s politically-charged 2008 hit ‘Fuck You’ was an overdue reminder of simply how fearless a pop star she had been in her heyday. Her first two albums (2006’s ‘Alright, Nonetheless’ and the 2008 follow-up ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’) impressed the subsequent technology, with everybody from Pleasure Crookes and PinkPantheress to Billie Eilish taking affect from her slicing, conversational songwriting.
Third album ‘Sheezus’ appeared like an identification disaster, although, and because the launch of 2018’s underrated electropop ‘No Disgrace’, Allen’s pivoted to change into a celebrated star of stage and display as an alternative. She’s additionally been topping charts and snatching headlines whereas co-hosting the Miss Me? podcast (although she stepped down final month). Regardless of these profitable ventures, Lily Allen by no means stopped writing music – she was simply by no means in a position to create something that felt attention-grabbing sufficient to launch. “[It was] observational stuff concerning the web and the world. It simply all appeared actually apparent and crap,” she stated in a current interview.
Shock album ‘West Finish Woman’ is definitely neither of these. Written and recorded in simply 10 days following the breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Issues’ David Harbour, it’s a modern, sensible assortment that sees Allen again at her best possible. The 14 tracks are a well-recognized mix of experimental electronics, chirpy dance, infectious pop hooks and brutal honesty. For essentially the most half, ‘West Finish Woman’ is an up to date tackle the sound that made her a crossover ’00s icon that by no means settles for snug throwback nostalgia.
Beginning with the title observe, a dreamy, musical theatre-inspired quantity, ‘West Finish Woman’ is a slow-burn break-up album with Allen taking heavy inspiration from her personal life. She’s been fast to explain it as a “story”, although, which permits her to sing overtly about discovering a secret bag with “intercourse toys, butt plugs, lube [and] a whole bunch of Trojans” in her accomplice’s “pussy palace”.
As you’d anticipate from her most “weak” album, there’s a number of grief and distress throughout ‘West Finish Woman’, but it surely by no means sounds miserable. Since ‘Smile’, Allen’s at all times had a knack for making devastation sound thrilling. There’s rage behind the pulsating ‘Ruminating’ as she struggles with the realities of an open marriage, playful different lady anthem ‘Madeline’ is a dizzying cocktail of uncertainty, fury and empathy, whereas the attractive ‘Simply Sufficient’ is as crushing because it will get, heartbreak amplified by lush strings. It looks like a much-needed purge.
Diving into the complexities of affection and loss, the rumbling ‘Relapse’ is about residing as much as the expectations of others, joyfully funky ‘Nonmonogamummy’ tackles relationship in your late thirties and the artwork of individuals pleasing, earlier than ‘Beg For Me’ has Allen itemizing precisely what she wants from a relationship. It leads into the decided, no-nonsense ‘Let You W/in’ and the smirking readability of ‘Fruityloop’, which has her quoting her second album ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’. By the top of ‘West Finish Woman’, it’s clear the connection on this story could be over, however Lily Allen’s comeback is simply getting began.
Particulars:
- File label: BMG
- Launch date: October 24, 2025