2009 Album Reviews: LILY ALLEN - IT'S NOT ME, IT'S YOU

I have something to confess it took me a long time to be convinced by Lily Allen even though I had been hearing great things about her. I don’t know what it was but something stopped me from jumping on the bandwagon but then I heard ‘Alfie’ from her debut album Alright Still and I found it hilarious, infectious and a brilliant pop song! I saw the video and that too had me giggling like a 16 yr. old. Still, I was not going to buy into the hype.....yet. This time around I was much more prepared for her re-emergence on the music scene and when her single ‘The Fear’ was released I was fully convinced that she was worth the hype. As a result I bought Alright Still and now I can see a huge leap from this to It’s Not Me, It’s You and I only sort of like Alright Still.

It’s Not Me, It’s You is a really good pop record and I think she had realised that there are so many artists doing a ‘retro’ type-thing and she needed to set herself apart from the Amy Winehouse’s and Duffy’s of the world in her second release. I like her taking a risk and in many ways it is a safe record as many of the songs e.g. ‘Everyone’s At It’ & ‘The Fear’ sound somewhat similar in parts, particularly the chorus. I am overall truly impressed.

The sound is very laid back and goes for an all round musical feast with sampling from different styles but it still remains very much pop but pop that I am not ashamed to say I dig. Pop has gone through a makeover with the girls no longer squeaky clean with perfect bodies and pre-fabricated tunes to sing; now it is about flicking the finger at the industry and life in general. I love it...and what is more endearing about Lily is how her accent truly shows through in all her music. Even when I wasn’t really convinced by her I loved this and it continues on this album.

The song that I am most obsessed with is ‘Not Fair’ it’s just so bizarre with its country twang and cheeky lyrics like “...I’m feeling pretty damn hard done by I spent ages giving head....” Yep, I think I know what this song is about. ‘22’ is what I believe to be somewhat autobiographical as she partied pretty hard, well if you believe the magazines and gossip. I don’t think it is a great song but others would probably disagree on this. There are some truly soulful moments like ‘I Could Stay’ which is actually very different from anything on her previous record and has a very dance/synth feeling to it. I have to say I like it more and more. Well, hello...synth-pop!! ‘Back to the Start’ is an amazing song because as you first listen to it you think it’s going one way but as it progresses it takes another road and this is very impressive. Another possible next single and generally awesome tune. There are some Latin tendencies within ‘Never Gonna Happen’ especially at the start but then it becomes this bizarre song with a very interesting rhythm. I am not convinced on this at all as I think it belongs at a school fete or carnival. The next truly great song on this record is ‘Fuck You’, I think I honestly put it there because of the title....really how can you not like it. The song is great and the chorus is the winner:
“Fuck you, fuck you.
Very, very much....
Cause we hate...
What you do...”
See I told you it was full of awesomeness!
The soulfulness returns with ‘Who’d Have Known’ which is an enjoyable listen and one cannot really say anything bad about this as it is a love song and we all know the world needs more love songs (by the way I’m serious). There is more of that synth influence on ‘Chinese’ but it’s another song similar to ‘The Fear’ and ‘Him’ but that is not to say it has no place here and I have to say it is much better than ’22’. ‘He Wasn’t There’ is an interesting choice to close the album as it could probably go in the middle somewhere as it is a bit of a retro throwback. I am not sure I like it and I don’t think it will grow on me.

It’s Not Me, It’s You is a contender for my album of the year. There are constant surprises for the listener throughout the album and within the songs. This is an incredibly difficult thing to do but amazing when it turns out right and sure enough it is effortless here. I am going to be following her career a lot more closely now and hope that she continues to develop and change her sound and style. Go Lily!

Hope you enjoyed and feel free to comment and disagree with me. U2's No Line on the Horizon review should be up towards the end of the week hopefully earlier.

Loz