By Dan Buono, News Staff
Listening to Lily Allen’s second studio album, It’s Not Me, It’s You, is like taking an adventure into the R-rated antithesis of a fairy tale.
Lyrics like, ‘I want to get to know you / and then you make this noise / and it’s apparent it’s all over,’ on ‘Not Fair,’ the second single off the record, show that bedroom prowess is high on this English pop artist’s list of priorities. But the melodies and rhythms on the album, slated for release in the US today, combine to create a euphoric sense of childhood. Fused with racy language and sexual references, the result’ is captivating and complemented throughout the record with themes of politics.
The track ‘Everyone’s At It’ opens up the record and the listener’s mind with electronic beats and flowery lyrics that portray a less flowery truth:’ ‘ a society of followers hooked on prescription drugs. Allen makes it evident that, as far as she’s concerned, the only way to fix the problem is to ‘put your hands up and admit that you’re on them.’
The next track on the album ‘- also its first single ‘- ‘The Fear’ has soared to No. 1 on the UK singles chart, according to Billboard.com. On it, Allen satirizes the lives of the rich and famous singing, ‘I am a weapon of massive consumption / and it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function.’
While much of the record is, as expected, pop-oriented, ‘Not Fair’ is infused with folk-style beats, giving it a country feel.
On ’22,’ Allen sings about a woman who is nearly 30 years old and believes her life is done because she goes out every night but cannot find a boyfriend. Therein lies the thesis of the album:’ ‘The man of her dreams comes along picks her up / and puts her over his shoulder / It seems so unlikely in this day and age.’
Two politically driven songs ‘- ‘Him’ and ‘F**k You’ ‘- take obvious shots at former president George W. Bush.
In ‘F**k You,’ Allen sings, ‘So sick and tired of all the hatred you harbor / so you say it’s not okay to be gay / Well I think you’re just evil.’ Although she drops the f-word more than a dozen times, this song sounds the most rollicking and upbeat ‘- almost innocent in its melody.
Interrupting the mostly straight-ahead momentum, Allen croons some slower songs, like ‘Who’d Have Known’ and ‘Chinese,’ making the overall rhythm of the record more complex and preventing a one-sitting listen from getting too predictable.
In the final cut, ‘He Wasn’t There,’ Allen sings about a man who let her down all the time. Allen has listened to advice from her friends and ends up leaving him in her past and laments, ‘I’m glad that I gave it to him cause now everything’s fine.’
