Lily Allen "Sheezus" (2014)

Sheezus

release date: May 5, 2014

format: digital (14 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,06]

producer: various

label: Parlophone - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "L8 CMMR" - 4. "Our Time" - 7. "As Long as I Got You" - 8. "Close Your Eyes" - 12. "Hard Out Here" (4 / 5) (live)

3rd studio album by Lily Allen following more than 5 years after It's Not Me, It's You (Feb. 2009) again features producer and songwriter Greg Kurstin, but here in a smaller part compared to the 2009-album.

Thematically, Allen stays much to the same formula of singing about relationships - explicit details of what you really wouldn't want to experience in that particular arena of your private life, and she has found her own funny way of exposing everything from sex and the downsides of her partner to artistic competition as part of contemporary music business. Yes, Allen has always been outspoken about the use of her first person's fictional stories as completely and 100% made-up narratives. Still, it's striking how these stories share similarities with that of her own life. Regardless that, she onfolds witty stories that make it all that more interesting. That is generally speaking because on Sheezus - the title being an obvious wordplay of 'She' and 'Jesus' (i.e. a she-version of Jesus) - the musical aspect doesn't deliver on a scale we have become accustomed to when speaking of Lily Allen. Stylewise, it's a mixed bag of britpop and electropop with the latter style being reduced somewhat on this one compared to the predecessor. Tracks like "L8 CMMR" and "Air Balloon" does sound like paler imitations of songs and a style presented by M.I.A. but what's most crutially missing are obvious hits.

The promotion single "Hard Out Here" is a mighty fine pick to introduce an upcoming album but when it stands alone on the actual full-length release it's not hard to understand the lukewarm reviews the album garnered. Four following singles are simply not on the same level, and clever lyrics, bucketfuls of irony, and a bunch of witty songs are not really enough to save this from being Allen's least favourable album to date. That said, Allen is still someone to watch out for with the songs she has put out on two consecutive albums. This is indeed her first miss and in the long run, Sheezus is an album that drowns in indecisiveness and immitations, and / or: generic pop sounding too much like Katy Perry, M.I.A., Kate Nash, you name it, instead of carrying an original tone of its own.

Not recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Spin 2,5 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 5,4 / 10, The Guardian, Rolling Stone 3 / 5, Slant 3,5 / 5, NME 1,5 / 5 stars ]

Lily Allen "It's Not Me, It's You" (2009)

It's Not Me, It's You

release date: Feb 4, 2009

format: digital (12 x File, MP3)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]

producer: Greg Kurstin

label: Regal - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "The Fear" (4 / 5) - 3. "Not Fair" (4 / 5) (official video) - 4. "22" - 7. "Never Gonna Happen" - 8. "Fuck You" (clean video version) (live) - 10. "Chinese" - 11. "Him"

2nd album by Lily Allen following close to 3 years after a near Earth-shattering succesful debut with Alright, Still (Jun. 2006). Kurstin produced three tracks on the predecessor but is here sole producer and likewise, all but one cover song are written by Allen and Kurstin together, which really makes this a different approach. Another striking difference comes to mind when listening to stylistic influences. The debut showed a near-abundance of styles, and then here, it's basically an electropop album, through and through. Yes, there's still room for ballad-like tunes and really up-beat bangers, but the overall sensation is much more narrow. "The Fear", "Not Fair" and "Fuck You" stand out as obvious singles but the remaning tracks actually don't differ that much, and that's what makes it a more coherent album than the promising debut.

Personally, I still enjoy "Smile" and "LDN" more than any tracks from this one but Allen comes out as a matured songwriter, and although, I really enjoyed the ska and grime-influence, this new album also strikes me as more personal. On the debut, she demonstrated strong influences that made me think of Winehouse and Mike Skinner, but here, it leaves me thinking Lily Allen is an artist that will continue to impress. All in all, Allen does more than well by making a follow-up that doesn't repeat the recipe from a certified banger but explores new territory and still proves her worth as someone to follow.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, NME, The Guardian 4 / 5, 👍Spin 3,5 / 5, Pitchfork 6,6 / 10, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]

Lily Allen "Alright, Still" (2006)

Alright, Still [debut]

release date: Jul. 26, 2006

format: cd

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]

producer: various

label: Regal / EMI - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 1. "Smile" (4 / 5) - 2. "Knock 'Em Out" - 3. "LDN" (4 / 5) - 4. "Everything's Just Wonderful" - 5. "Not Big" - 6. "Friday Night" - 8. "Littlest Things" - 11. "Alfie"

Studio album debut by Lily (Rose Beatrice) Allen is produced by a long list of various producers just as the songs on the album are credited a different group of people with Allen as central songwriter.

The album rocketed to number #2 on the albums chart list well promoted by the number #1 single hit "Smile", which came out a fourthnight earlier, and the second single "LDN" from Sep. made it to number #6 on the singles chart list - Allen had basically taken Britain by storm playing a simple retro-style of pop, which both paires artists like Amy Winehouse, The Streets, and Blur with a mix strongly influenced by ska, reggae, and grime, and Allen appears as the first UK artist to blend these styles in simple arrangements combined with humour-founded lyrics from a fictional character's everyday-life. A year later, Katy Perry and Kate Nash looked to Allen and both experienced solo success with music bonded to this very debut.

I recall being quite pleased by the first two singles from the album, and although, the album does contain other fine songs, it still comes out as a bit shallow, easily forgettable but yet perfectly refreshing.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Spin 4 / 5, Pitchfork 8,3 / 10, 🤯The Guardian 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, 👍NME 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]