British pop singer Lily Allen, 23, released her sophomore album “It’s Not Me, It’s You” Tuesday. She held a small performance at The Bowery Ballroom to promote the new release in Manhattan as part of Myspace’s “Secret Shows” series.
Allen first came on the scene in 2006 at the age of 21 with the release of her first single “Smile” from her debut pop album “Alright, Still.”
According to Allen’s website, her album eventually sold 2.5 million records and broke into the Billboard’s top 20 in the United States.
The success of the album also triggered the paparazzi that come with fame and success. Over the past three years, Allen has been plastered all over tabloids for behavior often overshadowing her career as a musician.
Her personal life was exposed to the masses like showing up drunk to her performances and shouting at fans, public fights with other celebrities and her miscarriage. The tabloids have even compared her to Amy Winehouse for her drug and alcohol consumption.
Unlike Winehouse, Allen has managed to appear in the media — gracing the covers of such magazines as Spin and Nylon — not for her behavior but rather for the her new album.
Her new album is filled with honest, direct and often sassy lyrics laid atop of catchy electro-pop beats. In her new twelve track album, Allen shows what her past few years under the limelight have taught her.
The track “Chinese” shows how Allen’s “party girl” nights have changed in which she sings “You’ll make me beans on toast and a nice cup of tea, And we’ll get a Chinese and watch TV, Tomorrow we’ll take the dog for a walk, And in the afternoon then maybe we’ll talk.”
One of the most interesting things of this album is the issues Allen sings about which are not usually common topics in pop albums. In such tracks as “Everyone’s At It,” she discusses the issue of various drug abuses and how people hide it. Her first single, “The Fear,” illustrates how much society focuses on materialism and the price of fame.
Though Allen shows maturity from her last album she still retains that sassy straightforwardness in her album that made her first record a success. Such tracks include “Not Fair” in which Allen sings about an almost perfect boyfriend, whose only fault is found in the bedroom.
Not being a huge Lily Allen fan myself there is no denying the infectious melodies of the album. It is worth listening to. Some of my favorite tracks are “I Could Say,” “Who’d of Known?” and “Never Gonna Happen.”
