My thoughts on Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’

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Lily Allen’s latest album ‘West End Girl’ has proved divisive since its release on the 24th of

October. Some fans are praising her unfiltered, brutal honesty; critics are branding her a

try-hard, attempting to mimic Charli-XCX’s pop experimentalism. Personally, I have had the album on repeat, and I realise that this obsession stems from a slightly shameful place: my burning desire to know the gossip…

Undeniably, Allen has a knack for ‘saying it how it is’, even (especially) when it’s

uncomfortable. Who else remembers listening to ‘Not Fair’ far too young? As always, she

lays all of her cards down on the table. In ‘Madeleine’, one of the most talked-about tracks,

she pulls back the curtain on her relationship with ex-husband David Harbour, the Stranger

Things star, candidly detailing exactly how he breached their non-monogamous agreement.

“We had an arrangement / Be discreet and don’t be blatant / There had to be payment / It

had to be with strangers / But you’re not a stranger, Madeline”. Allen has gone on to claim

that Madeleine is a fictional character and even dressed up as Ludwig Bemelmans’

childrens’-book-charater to poke fun at all the online discourse.

Upon listening to the album, I found myself in the midst of a digital ‘deep-dive’. This led to

watching Allen and Harbour’s Architectural Digest video, the garish wallpaper clashes and

dark wood satiating my detail cravings. Now I had a visual of the Brooklyn Townhouse that,

presumably, the album’s’ heartache was set against. This sentiment is where the album’s

power lies: it transforms listeners into voyeurs, offering glimpses into a celebrity break-up

that would typically be stifled through NDAs and expert PR teams. This invitation to snoop

probes complex arguments regarding fan-artist relations, and the boundaries of what is

acceptable. Is it okay that we have all of this information at our finger tips? And is any of it

even true, or yet another marketing tactic?

Regardless, Allen knows we're listening for the details, dissecting lyrics for clues about her

private life. She's complicit in this dynamic, feeding our curiosity whilst simultaneously

mocking it. When she dressed up as Madeleine, she was both deflecting and doubling down,

acknowledging the spectacle she's created and feeding the monster. This kind of parasocial

relationship is typically scorned upon by artists, yet in ‘West End Girl’ it is capitalised upon.

Perhaps this is Allen’s way of reasserting herself in the spotlight. Never before have

audiences had such unlimited access to the lives of celebrities, whether this is through

snapchat stories or youtube vlogs. She knows that there is a market for over-sharing.

Whether this album is a marketing ploy, or an attempt at authenticity in a society increasingly punctuated by artifice, I implore you to listen. Besides, it's quite hard to resist walking inside when the front door is wide open.

Edited by Gabriella Whiston