Lily Allen "It's Not Me, It's You"

This must be all the rage in Britain. The record reminds me of a lot of the pop I heard while in Britain while I was visiting there in my two previous trips to the U.K. To be honest I can't remember the big single Lily Allen had a year or two ago so I'm approaching this album with fresh ears.

Everyone's At It
This is an up tempo dance number that seems like a downtempo club theme with a darker underbelly. I liked the way the song built at the beginning that creates a sense of forboding in the listener. The persistent theme of everyone being "at it" sounds a little sarcastic as if she's resigned to what people are doing and powerless to stop them despite her frustrations.

The Fear
This record seems to be somewhere between silly pop and just pop with a message and a real conscience. A treatise on fame and wealth with more heavy sarcasm lashing out at the media and our culture of celebrity. I never much cared for these types of songs feeling that they should remain the domain of rappers primarily as this kind of message in their songs is much more a part of rap culture. I do get the irony here as she seems to lament how hard it is to be famous and an icon. As if we're supposed to be feel bad for her and all of her problems. Meanwhile there are people out there who are having trouble paying their mortgage she's giving us her equivalent of navel gazing.

Not Fair
What is this a western? I like this song's unique cowboy feel. She's merging rockabilly with some kind of syrupy English pop. The Johnny Cash guitar works well with her vocals here although I can't help but notice that her vocals don't seem to vary from track to track despite the musical differences. This track busts on the lack of sexual prowess in the men she's been with. Why can't you bring me off", she seems to be wondering in an exasperated manner. Mocking how all men think they're wild cowboys in bed but "he's no good and what a shame". "You never make me scream" (not brought to orgasm) and it's "not fair". But this song is strong based on it's different musical base and effort to go somewhere else musically.

22
This may be the most unspectacular of the album's first third seemingly having no real personality or uniqueness. But the lyrics are strong and tell a real story with a coherent message. This fact alone differentiates her from much of the other mass market pop and warrants further discussion. The vocals are a tad different here and reference some of the new Motown/R&B styles of Beyonce or Kanye West.

I Could Say
A solo piano opening signals the heightened intensity of this track and pairs nicely with her vocals. I could do without the automated handclaps though. Here the vocals are almost sung through a filter and lack some of the necessary emotion that I thought I'd be getting when the song begins. I was anticipating a stronger more lovesick message than a general complaint about the boyfriend not liking her friends - these problems probably speak more to her fanbase of younger girls who watch ABC Family and want their boyfriend to be good to them and just fit in. The stops and starts of the track make this track almost a club hit with builds of intensity.

Back to the Start
The vocals here finally change to a plainspoken style that builds and changes at the chorous. But this track is stronger based on these changes as the vocals that carry the chorous are rapid-sung and frenetic. I like how the spoken vocal style and the piano work nicely together and then change at the chorous with the rapidsung vocals. The lyrics are more vapid than usual here but the musical bed carries this song through. The solo keyboard part could've been lifted off an early Yaz or Depeche Mode record and form a nice bridge to what could be a decent club hit. This is a lighter approach to lovesick relationship problems with lyrics that just seem to gloss over the problems.

Never Gonna Happen
An accordion with real handclaps this time, opens the song and creates a more whimsical beginning to this track that's much different than the rest of this album. The pacing and beat are also much different and un-club like. Almost like a fun, novelty song from the likes of Nancy Sinatra or a less coquette-ish Marilyn Monroe we almost hear a frustrated,mocking march just after the mid-way point. With a slower tempo and fun vibe this could almost be a crowd singalong.

Fuck You
A pointy-er piano opens the song but then the bass jumps in and forms a more formidable structure. The proverbial thumbing-of-the-nose at those who aren't in line with her way of thinking being those who she perceives as small-minded and narrow in their thinking. With a lot of quirky sounds underneath like burps, wheezes and cuckoo clocks, the attitude of this song could be more punk but is instead more childish (reminding me of the Beatles' "Good Morning, Good Morning" with all of the barnyard animals sampled) which of course references how these people behave and think - childishly.

Who'd Have Known
This is actually kind of a touching teenage-hood love story that's very cute in relating the details of a late-night hookup. This is not the kind of song I can stomach for very long and it's cute-ness becomes kind of unbearable after about 2 minutes. This is the equivalent of a long endless phone call between girlfriends in their late teens about a relationship getting off on the right foot. What's funny is that there's very little traces of irony here - it's the sincerity that makes it horribly sweet. This is the teen equivalent of Bruce Springsteen singing about how great it is to be a father at the age of 40 and just as interesting.

Chinese
With chimey-like synths beginning, this track has more of a dreamy feel but covers some of the most mundane aspects of life. There are simply not that many songs that sing so adoringly of "taking the dog for a walk, watching the telly, having a talk and then getting a chinese." This song is about as girly as it gets and with the love of being home and snuggling with a boyfriend. As for the music there is an interesting dance vibe with the dreamy synths that begun this track and the irresistable melodies around "get a chinese and watch TV".

Him
A celestial acoustic guitar begins and feeds a sense of wonder she has over the mystery of a man she's come across. The lyrics are extremely clever as she rhymes some of the most underlikely combinations and makes one think that she's with friends at the mall taking about all of the strange men (boys) that she crosses paths with. The bridge is a uninspiring electronic jam. But the man himself may have a darker side that she explores towards the end of the song.

He Wasn't There
With fake vinyl static this track is cabaret-like and could've been a Joesphine Baker outtake (in English of course) and just as whimsical. It'll bring a smile to your face as she gets a little cheeky implying that she's the other (younger) woman that a man had cheated with. Her vocals here have changed to be more child-like in a barely legal/jail bait sexual manner. Here she's playing the role of the other woman who's obsessed with the man who could get in a whole heap of legal trouble if their relationship were to ever be revealed.