Now you see i never thought you'd be/A constant person in my life/
And i don't think you'd be/If you'd stayed with your ex-wife.
Lily Allen, He wasn't there.
Guy de Maupassant said once 'black words on a white page are the soul laid bare.' Well here's a little something my soul would rather keep hidden in the depths and recesses of guilty pleasure:
Lily Allen fascinates me.
I'm not talking about fashion here, even though her inane ability to get it oh so right (think little chanel dresses in french navy with sky high louboutins and a bevvy of beautiful bags on her elbow) one day and look like a complete fashion victim the other (need i mention her penchant for uggs and track pants OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE) alone could fill a blog post. No, what i want to talk about is her music.
I'm aware that music, despite being listed as one of my loves in life, and despite being something to which i devote a lot of time and energy whole-heartedly and unabashedly adoring, is not a regular fixture on the blog. Just think of it this way, it's not the most visual of experiences, and given that my posts tend to run on the lengthy side i need pictures to break up the 'black words on a white page' monotony. But i was on a very long, and delayed, train trip back from visiting my friend at her college and listening to my ipod on shuffle when one of Lily's unreleased songs from the new album 'It's Not Me, It's You' began to play.
I am of the firm belief that Lily Allen is one of the best lyricists of our age. She is unrivalled in pop for deliciously snarky, fiercely ironic and wholly loveable lyrics that evoke all sorts of emotions, ranging from loathing to guilt to adoration. She is up there with Alex Turner and yes, Chris Martin, for being able to write songs that are, completely unexpectedly, layered in a way that each nuance is only revealed by more and more listens. Her brand of pop is deceptively bubble gum sweet, sugary sun-shine bright through clouds melody lines bely the truth of the lyrics, which you only really comprehend after a few listens. LDN is chief example of this on her first album. On this new one, 'He wasn't there', an unreleased track which i'm sure will not stay that way for long, is perfect.
It is a cool little track that cleverly and successfully juxtaposes the crackly, bee-bop andrews' sisters piano backing against the clear, sweet tones of lily's voice. The scratchy record-player quality of the backing makes for a really interesting combination with the vocals.
And all this before i even start on the lyrics.
The song is intriguingly vague and unclear about exactly who she's talking about. At first listen i thought it was a lover who Lily laments was never there for her 'his reputation preceded him/he was out on the town', but who she still loves anyway, and after some time their relationship is fine. But after a few listens i am wondering if she's not talking about her father. There is one moment in the song where she says 'Because i know that you love me very much/I'll always be your little girl.'
See what i mean? You're toe-tapping away to a tune that is upbeat and uplifting and suddenly you cop an earful of the lyrics and suddenly everything is different. Wham. She's done it again.
And though it may be a little embarassing to admit considering the rest of my music taste veers to painfully hip electro and psychedelic rock, Lily Allen is one of my favourite artists. Aside from her sometimes, quite frankly, embarassing public life, i think she's a really intriguing person, direct and frank to a fault, but still irrepressibly charming and witty. Every interview with her is drastically different to the one that preceded it. Ever photoshoot with her shows a different side to her personality. And the best thing about her is that she's even better live than she is on the album, creating a dialogic relationship with the audience that, at the sydney festival i saw her at, resulted in her bumming cigarettes from an audience member and telling rude jokes in between songs.
In a way i suppose one of the most endearing things about her is that, just like her music, Lily Allen is a bit of a bright ray of sunshine twinged with a bit of sarcastic realism. She's never sweet to the point of sickliness, bandut her tracks that are heartfelt are never ones that behove you to reach for the kleenex. In fact, you're much more likely to go looking for your shotgun or, in the case of non-american readers, various knives and/or shovels.
There's no bullshit about her, and for someone who prizes honesty above almost anything else, i find this refreshing and fascinating. The Music industry, like many other areas of the arts, is rife with, excuse my language, complete bullshit. People who feel lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off (thanks, panic!) and that it is the best and easiest way to the top. Song after tepid song recycling the same old sentiments from cookie-cutter artists (take mildly good-looking boy/girl, merchandise them up with the latest shoes and/or hair cut and add a slightly saturated video clip), the words from whose mouth you don't even believe anyway. And that's not even to get started about the film/fashion/art industry.
When Lily writes about a boyfriend who's, ahem, 'not big', or about how to escape from sleazy pick up lines in the delicious 'knock 'em out', you nod your head in agreement because you've been there before, had the same lines used on you - and you know Lily has too. Her first album was littered with songs that offered a slice of life for a 20 year old fresh-faced ingenue in London who had a famous dad, but as yet no infamy of her own. Like the debut album of the Arctic Monkeys it was a study in the poetry that can be found in mundanity, about lads nights out, about buying cigarettes, about night clubs and stolen kisses and being young.
Lily's (and indeed, the Monkeys') second album is, by necessity, incredibly different. Gone is the relative anonymity. (and doesn't Lily know it, she recently lashed out at photographers for harassing her and defacing her car, successfully procuring and AVO on a group of papparazzi from the Big Photos Inc.) I wouldn't say the first album had a naivety, perhaps a sinful naivety (if that is at all possible). Perhaps it is more possible to say that the youthfulness, the playful exuberance of Alright, Still is no longer in the second album. Lily's matured, and her style has come along with it.
Replacing the upbeat tempos and biting lyrics against ex-boyfriends and frisky club matrons are a slew of thoughtful, incredibly intelligent songs about celebrity, the drug world and in particular cocaine, truthfulness, bigotry and cattiness. she still attacks her favourite victims: crap ex-boyfriends, vicious B-list starlets and fame-whores. But this time her songs are so subtle it's really stunning.
Lead single 'The Fear' only reveals what it's really about when you listen to the lyrics intently. The soaring electronics of the chorus are exciting, and Lily's voice suitably melancholy, but its the lyrics that grab you around the head and shake you around. 'Now I'm not a saint, but i'm not a sinner/and everything's cool as long as i'm getting thinner.' Sarcasm? Irony? Truth? Is Lily attacking the world of celebrity, fickle as it is, or simply reveling in its excesses, crass as they are. The best thing about the song is that you're never really sure.
She's fascinating, all right. Still. (har har). Her transformation from gobby london girl with a bite to glamorous london girl with a bite has been a pleasure to watch. Her music is what real pop should be - witty and clever. And Her person is what a real artist should be like - unable to ignore with an irrepressible presence, both on and off the stage.
Tickets to her concert, her album on constant rotation, and an unhealthy obsession with her collection of shoes (not including the uggs, of course)... Secret pleasure?
Guilty as charged.
Lily and Kate attend the Chanel RTW Fall 09 shows in Paris.X
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