Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

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Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Lily Allen's got a third nipple. She'll show it to you if you ask, too. So that's one of the reasons I think Lily Allen is awesome. What's not awesome is taking your signature style and ditching it for one that's sub-par. Such is the quest for originality, I suppose.

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Music

Reviewed by Brad Cook

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

Lily Allen's first album, Alright, Still was pissed off, sarcastic, caustic, and plain damn mean, but it was charming. In an age where most female performers were either brain dead pop music machines or hyper indie, esoteric cases, a playful album with songs that mocked the ideals and themes of life at the time was very welcome. She was either super immature, or mature to a degree that she could dance around issues that most people take really seriously, or regard with awkward nervousness. Either way, it was refreshing, hilarious, and fun.

Lily Allen stated sometime recently that if her second album isn't regarded as well as her first, she'll probably leave the music business. She also said that her newer material was more electronic than Alright, Still. Eh, I thought, electronica can be bad ass sometimes. The problem is, electronica is not necessarily the best backdrop for Lily's lyrical ambitions, which still include telling people that they're not good in bed, complaining about how everyone's on drugs but no one acknowledges it, and the phrase "fuck you, fuck you very very much." The attitude-y ska, dub, upbeat stuff fits that style muuuuuch better than electronica ever could. So she's starting out with a bit of a conflict of interest. Anyway, how are the songs?

The opener on It's Not Me, It's You is called "Everyone's At It", and that's the one about everyone being on drugs that I mentioned earlier. It's literally dripping with synth, and the music more closely resembles a new Britney Spears song than anything I'd ever expect to hear from Lily Allen. After that is "The Fear", the first single, which most people have probably heard. Here's that good old Allen sarcasm. Not an exceptional song by any means, mildly catchy and generically electronic. "The Fear" is followed by "Not Fair", the first time we get a hint of Lily's more playful side this time around. It's a western-style, two step beat that holds up her lyrics about a guy who is good to her in every way, except in bed. This is one of the better songs, if only because it doesn't sound like I'd hear it in a dance club. Next up to the plate is "22", a punchy piece about how when you reach a certain age, society's view of you changes drastically. There's some sweet ragtime-esque piano in there, too. The next song, "I Could Say", is the first one on the album that isn't negative or depressing. It deals with an ex-boyfriend of hers, and how she's much more liberated now that he's gone. The music itself is a blend of somber piano, strings, and techno. Not overly stimulating, but decent. "Back To The Start" is the first song on the album where she drops the veneer, and we actually get a glimpse of Lily Allen's emotions. She explains how she was always mean to a certain somebody cause she was prettier and more popular than her, and now she has finally gotten around to apologizing. This song is halfway between crappy electronica and a more unique Lily Allen song, and the chorus is enjoyable.

"Never Gonna Happen" might be my favorite on the album. The verses have a slinky, polka feel to them that differs so drastically from most of this album, the chorus is big and flashy, and it harkens hard back to Alright, Still. "Fuck You" is another of the better songs on the album, and it's exactly like the title says. The chorus goes "Fuck you, fuck you very very much", and the whole song is about people who have nothing better to do than be angry about stuff. Hard not to enjoy. "Whod Have Known" is another one of the songs that had a demo before the album came out. What's this? A song where Lily isn't angry, vengeful, vindictive, or downright mean? It's rare, but it does help to spice up the album a bit, especially since there's no thumping backbeat. "Chinese" is like a lyrical sequel to the previous song, where the vocal melody is much too much like some of her other songs, making it seem arbitrary. In "Him", Lily literally puts herself in the place of God to consider where he stands morally, how he feels about what's going on in the world today, and who he would vote for. Has a cool country vibe thanks to the slide guitar in the background, but it melts into more typical electronica for the choruses. The last song, "He Wasn't There", has a soulful side to it, vaguely reminiscent of Amy Winehouse, with some vinyl crackling in the background. Good song to end on, and it ends rather abruptly, which I can imagine Lily being satisfied with, effectively pulling the musical rug from beneath your feet.

Lily Allen's style seems severely dumbed down on It's Not Me, It's You; it's much less youthful (makes sense), it's not as creative, and the vocal hooks are lacking. One thing she did keep is her sarcastic, bitter nature, though I'm not sure that was a good thing; it certainly suited her better in her teens. Then again, she wouldn't be Lily Allen if everything was nice and polite. This album doesn't do much to demonstrate her vocal range, which is disappointing. Many of the songs are just too new wave pop princess for my liking, and I just don't think it has the staying power that Alright, Still does. There are a handful of good songs, and a bunch of average ones. I hate to say it, but a lack of Mark Ronson as producer might be this album's downfall.

Lily Allen

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