What you need to know
Lily Allen has admitted her critically acclaimed album West End Girl is a “really angry album”.
In ELLE UK’s March cover story, Allen, 40, spoke to the magazine about the creation of his fifth studio album and its success. ELLE UK March issue will be on sale from February 5th.
“I don’t think this is a particularly self-conscious record,” Allen said. “This is really a record of anger. And it’s more about anger directed at others. It’s not really about self-reflection.”
ELLE UK / Alana O’Hurley
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The British pop singer revealed that she was “processing what was going on at a pretty traumatic time” while making West End Girl, and used the album as a way to vent her anger.
“If there’s anything I learned about myself from that, it’s that anger is powerful and necessary, and expressing it isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” she explained. “In fact, suppressed anger is arguably more harmful.”
ELLE UK / Alana O’Hurley
West End Girl, which chronicled the unraveling of her marriage to ex-husband David Harbour, captivated listeners with its raw and vulnerable lyricism. Regarding the positive reaction from fans, Allen said, “I don’t know if it’s great for the soul, but it’s good for the ego.”
“When I wrote this album, I spent about eight months in complete fear of what would come back to me,” she admitted.
Since releasing the album on October 24, Allen revealed that fans have been reaching out to her to share their own experiences with extramarital affairs.
“It’s insane,” she said. “A lot of women are saying really graphic things to me in my Instagram DMs. It’s literally like, ‘My husband is going to attack my ass while he texts other women.'” It’s so disgusting. ”
But in the end, Allen doesn’t take his position as a musician for granted.
“All I can do is write music that they can relate to and feel less alone,” she said.
