Lily Allen insists ‘West End Girl’ is not a “revenge” album
After surprise-releasing her first album since 2018, West End Girl, Lily Allen has clarified that the project is not an act of “revenge” against her ex-husband and Stranger Things actor, David Harbour.
The British singer-songwriter dropped the 14-song project on October 24th. The album acts as a narrative investigation into the breakdown of her marriage with her second husband, Harbour, due to infidelity on his part.
Now, speaking with Interview magazine, Allen has clarified that the work is “not a cruel album”. She shared, “I don’t feel like I’m being mean. It was just the feelings I was processing at the time.”
She also shared that the project was written in less than two weeks, revealing, “I wrote this record in 10 days in December and I feel very differently about the whole situation now. We all go through breakups and it’s always fucking brutal. But I don’t think it’s that often that you feel inclined to write about it while you’re in it.”
As a result, Allen found it “fun” to “viscerally go through the motions”. But the motions, as such, quickly came to an end. She added, “At the time, I was really trying to process things and that’s great in terms of the album, but I don’t feel confused or angry now. I don’t need revenge.”
Simultaneously, the ‘Smile’ singer wanted to ensure that she didn’t sound like a victim on the project. She admitted that, at the end of the process, “We did go back and tweak things. It was very important to me that I didn’t sound like a victim, so I’d be like, ‘We have to change that line’. It just sounds too, ‘Poor me.’” I wanted it to feel brutal and tragic, but also empowering, that there was joy in being able to express it.”
Allen collaborated on West End Girl with her musical director, Blue May. May and Allen are both executive producers on the album alongside Seb Chew and Kito. Meanwhile, the cover art and illustrations were made by Spanish artist Nieves González.
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