MUSIC REVIEWS
Lily Allen - Alright, Still
David Allun Jones
Lily Allen’s background story is so genius, Hollywood should be kicking itself for not thinking of it first. The daughter of UK actor/ comedian Keith Allen yearns to make a name for herself in the field of music but trudges through two failed record deals thanks to labels that didn’t appreciate her own self-vision. Taking her career into her own hands, Allen uploads her own demos onto the ever popular MySpace, constructing her own buzz through word of mouth as her Internet fanbase quickly expands by the thousands. Suddenly, bloggers and UK music critics are delightfully hyping Lily as pop’s brightest new hope, forcing her record label into officially releasing the product she had oh-so-cleverly leaked on her own and leading to a British #1 single within weeks thanks to high demand. But her fairy tale journey doesn’t end at a chart topping radio hit as her debut, Alright Still, deliciously ranks as a smart, summer-friendly indie-pop treat boasting fun-filled beats and endless personality.
Think of the soft-spoken innocence of Dido with the island-obsessiveness of Gwen Stefani and mockney bite of The Streets and you have Lily Allen, a no-holds-barred tart who lashes out on stupid females and tired ex-boyfriends with a clever wittiness that almost feels too good to be true. Men get the brunt of her disdain, whether the belligerent lout at the bar who refuses to leave her alone even when she claims to be six months pregnant and have syphilis (“Knock Em Out”) or the dude she dumps for not having much of a package to satisfy her needs (“Not Big”). Lily isn’t some hairy arm-pitted feminist trying to set the world right by dissing the opposite sex at every turn, but she isn’t the one to sit back and let them get away with their behavior either, especially when they’ve hurt her. Her big hit “Smile” finds her happily reciprocating the pain of loneliness and embarrassment when a former lover tries for a reconciliation just as she’s gotten over her own tears for him. Instead of running back into his arms, she simply laughs off his predicament (“At worse I feel bad for a while/ But then I just smile”).
You would expect someone with this much attitude to sound all loud and nasty so as not to be mistaken for some doe-eyed pushover, but her handling of the material turns out to be her best angle. Her voice is girly and gentle with a British accent that nicely curves her pronunciation, turning every record here into the perfect sing-a-long cut. And the backing tracks of dusty jazz samples, big band melodies and bouncy ska/ reggae snippets provide a summery air in which everything feels jolly even during the album’s darker moments like the tearjerker ballad “Littlest Things” in which she pines after a lost love or the disillusioned “LDN” which embraces the seediness of her London town by choosing to ignore it (“Would I want to be anywhere else?” she asks as she rides her bicycle past pimps, prostitutes and old ladies being mugged).
As other female singers peel back the layers of their clothing in order to take it to the next level, Allen’s sassy lyricism points her in the direction of where the female artist should venture more often. It’s one of many displays of intelligence that makes Alright Still, the outstanding gem it surprisingly turns out to be. And the fact that she’s managed such a feat while going against the old school ways of the industry and allowing her fame to build by way of the public and the Internet makes her success all the more sweeter.
