So, ‘Sheezus’. A witty comeback record from an arch pop commentator, or an empty exercise in baiting? Well, as is so often the case, it’s a bit of both.
This is, even when placed next to the beige ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’, Allen’s most inconsistent album, a collection of songs that aren’t able to do justice to her pop sensibilities or biting asides.
That she’s one of a number of people to already have laid into it - agreeing with a Twitter user that its early singles are ‘docile pop rubbish’ - is only part of the story.
There was always a hint that, behind the twee cover of Keane’s pipe and slippers anthem Somewhere Only We Know, Allen had another ‘Alright, Still’ in the locker.
The disappointment hits with an immediate rush with the title track, a mixed-up song that namechecks pop’s leading female stars - come on down Bey, Riri, Gaga, Lorde and Katy Perry - while employing plenty of auto-tune that we can assume is an ironic statement of its own. It’s not the Allen we know, and the rote nature of some of the couplets undo what is a dangerously catchy central hook.
L8 CMMER suffers a similar fate - “When I see his face, I feel like I could win the race” - while Air Balloon, another single, attempts to scale the same high wire melodies as LDN and ends up tumbling. “I don’t give a fuck about your Instagram,” she sings on Insincerely Yours, but over its slow jam backing she sounds more disinterested than enraged.
The delicate Take My Place and acerbic URL Badman - "I don't troll, I make statements" - stand head and shoulders above much of the competition here, displaying sensitivity and Allen’s ability to skewer her rivals respectively. Both underline exactly why this record was ‘long-awaited’ - not because of the controversy or the maddening obsession with ‘beef’, but because Allen was, hopefully still is, one of the few original voices in British pop music.
Lily Allen Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Fri May 23 2014 - ABERDEEN Aberdeen Music Hall
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