albums and tracks

Editor's rating

Lily Allen doesn't make timeless songs. Hers is the realm of zeitgeist - capturing moments in three-minute bursts and sending them out into the world like musical postcards.

So her record company's decision to delay the release of the wryly-titled It's Not Me, It's You by six months means that, at times, it feels like she got a bit lost in the post.

The lyrical assault on George Bush in 'F*** You' is out of place in an Obama-facing world, and her comment about being a "weapon of massive consumption" in 'The Fear' is uncomfortably outdated considering the financial crisis that erupted between the track's conception and release.

Thankfully, the album is saved by the music behind her lyrical quips and quirks.
Barring the dodgy bluegrass-dance-hybrid stomp of 'Not Fair', Lily's second effort is full of intriguing musical excursions that go some way towards making up for its adolescent observations. 'Him', for example, is a clumsy meditation on religion which, staggeringly, rhymes "suicidal" with "Creedence Clearwater Revival". But the track has a slick, subtle and addictive beat that allows the club-footed lyrics to pass by almost unnoticed.

In many ways, it's precisely this duality that makes It's Not Me, It's You a tentative success. Had Lily remained in the retro style of Alright, Still, things may well have sunk under the weight of the well-intentioned but often pitiful words. As it is, she's just about made it through.

Chris Long