(Morning Star, Friday 11 August 2006)
ALBUM: Lily Allen - Alright Still
(Regal)
BEST known for being the daughter of Keith and having a particularly gobby way about her, 20-something Lily Allen's debut exhibits a degree of wisdom well beyond her years and far outweighing her seemingly obnoxious persona.
Alright Still is packed with the sweetest sort of summer music - with one foot firmly in the pop camp and a lyrical poetry that falls halfway between the Arctic Monkeys and Maximo Park, Lily's crisp observational tone is much like, bear with me, a female Streets. But don't let that put you off.
On opener and number one single the gently reggae Smile, Lily's washing that cheating man right out of her hair with a wry examination of their failed relationship, less woman scorned, more woman relieved.
High points on the record would have to be the '60s-styled Everything's Just Wonderful, which details the modern world from Lily's point of view, registering disgust with everything from the inability to get a mortgage to the state of the dating game.
The sweet and cheery Alfie, which details Lily's concerns for her waster brother who spends his time smoking in his room. The "oompah" backing gives Alfie a magical nursery rhyme feel, as the relationship between brother and sister is cheerfully examined.
Allen is nothing if not bawdy and her lyrics, while sweet and charming, are peppered with swearing and colloquialisms.
But the magic of her music is none more recognisable than on LDN - an ode to London for the text generation. She notes the pimps and chavs filling the streets of her beloved capital with a dry pseudo-intellectual glance.
An album for the the heartbroken and the hopeful, Allen runs the gamut of human emotions and comes up with a record with about 100 times the sincerity of anything that Coldplay could dream of.
As they possibly say in Islington, nuff respect.
No comments:
Post a Comment