I reviewed Lily Allen’s memoir a few years back and made the case for her being one of our most underrated and overlooked artists. What a treat then to be at the end of 2025 looking back on a year when Lily resurrected her career and got the flowers she so richly deserved.
In her memoir Lily wrote: I am writing this because writing is what I do, it’s both my living and the way I live, the way I make sense of things, the way I try to learn my lessons.
The memoir was full of brutal truths about the difficulties of fame and the struggles of addiction. It ended with her leaving her first marriage but finding sobriety. Soon after she met and got married to David Harbour. On the outside she seemed to be thriving. Her happy ending was hard won. Survival itself seemed like a miracle considering the casualties of tabloid fame in the 00s.
Still after her move to New York there were some concerns raised when she lost a considerable amount of weight. Her career seemed to be all over the place too with her trying acting and selling sex toys rather than recording music.
The end to her relationship with Harbour sounds truly shocking and awful. What has come from that experience is a complete piece of art.
‘West End Girl’ is a concept album in the age of streaming. The songs barely makes sense out of context and that’s what makes it so damn compelling.
The first listen through is blistering and jaw-droppingly brutal. From the opening ‘West End Girl’ she sets herself up as a woman doing everything she can in the face of gaslighting and cruelty. Using the half-heard phone call within the song is a powerful device to help the listener feel a part of the whole drama.
Then ‘Ruminating’ lets us into her head, where we share her confusion and devastation. This might be the first time I’ve heard auto tune actually add something to a song – reflecting her disassociation and sleep deprived state. ‘Sleepwalking’ becomes an honest look at how we all deal with trauma. Most women just put up with shit and turn it on themselves.
What has made this album really go viral though is the drama of ‘Tennis’ and ‘Madeline’. Musically these songs capture what was great about the early Lily albums – letting her naturally sweet voice contrast with the brash honesty of her lyrics. The ‘Who the fuck is Madeline’ hook is just genius.
There’s such an emotional vulnerability to ‘Relapse’ too where she shows us exactly what is at stake, what she’s worked so hard to find in her life.
The triple whammy of ‘Pussy Palace’, ‘4chan Stan’ and ‘Nonmonogamummy’ are the best three song titles of the year. You do wonder if some of the more explicit details in these songs might not even be true, but who cares when they are this entertaining and catchy. She’s called this album ‘autofiction’ which sounds similar to what the Chicks did on ‘Gaslighter’ blending fiction with real life incidents.
While the final section of the album may lack the big revelations and sing along hooks, what it does offer is insight and hard truths about modern relationships. Nice to see her link back to the other classic album in her discography ‘It’s Not Me, It’s You’ as well.
There was another quote from Lily’s memoir which I kept coming back to as I listened to this album over the last few months: When women tell their stories, loudly and clearly and honestly, things begin to change – for the better.
Lily has not just changed her career trajectory with this album she’s changed what is possible for other artists too. It shouldn’t have to take personal trauma on a massive scale to make the public wake up to the talent of women in music but I’m certainly glad that they have.
She’s brought a whole new generation of younger fans in without having to chase trends or do some dumb TikTok dance routine. She’s gone from barely selling out a tour in small venues a few years back to selling out arenas at the age of 40. She’s shown her daughters that life and love are messy but honesty is the best revenge.
West End Girl proves that the album is definitely not dead. Watch the industry scrambling to try to replicate this masterpiece in the next few years.
Highway Queens 
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