Lily Allen, It’s Not Me, It’s You: Review
This will be in the next issue of the George Street Observer (College of Charleston’s newspaper), but I wrote it, so I can put a copy on my blog too, yo.
It's Not Me, It's You
British singer-songwriter Lily Allen released her sophomore album It’s Not Me, It’s You, on February 9. While the lyrical style is somewhat reminiscent of her debut, 2007’s Alright, Still, it’s clear that she did head in a very different direction. This album has much more of an electronica feel to it than Alright, Still’s more piano-driven retro-chic. There’s also a great deal more seriousness to the subject matter in It’s Not Me, It’s You; clearly, Allen is no longer just writing songs to scorn her exes and belittle family members, especially as evidenced in the track titled “Back to the Start,” which sounds like an honest apology to family member, although it isn’t clear which one. “Never Gonna Happen” is a very cheeky little number about a fling that ends badly; and while that would lead one to believe that it sounds almost exactly like Alright, Still, it still shows a surprising amount of maturity that was not present in Allen’s previous album. Also, Allen is showing something of a social conscience on this album with “Fuck You (Very Much),” a direct attack on homophobia and racism. As a side note, this particular track was previously titled “Guess Who Batman” and “Get With the Brogram”; do the initials remind anyone of anything? One can feel much better about the romantic interests alluded to in It’s Not Me, It’s You; Allen doesn’t seem to be assaulting them as brutally as she was in Alright, Still. The songs “Who’d Of Known” and “Chinese” are actually about new, happy relationships, unlike the trainwrecks we all witnessed in Alright, Still. All in all, Lily Allen has done a wonderful job evolving from sassy, spiteful smart-mouth to a still sassy, but much more poised artist with this album. My favorite songs: “Who’d Have Known” and “Everyone’s At It”. My least-favorite: “He Wasn’t There.”
