Rant n' Rave With John Nagle

On her 2006 debut, Alright Still, Lily Allen’s cheeky British kiss-offs were a breath of fresh air in a Hilary Duff landscape. Three years later, It’s Not Me, It’s You, is basically the same record. There are a few new tricks, but the content is identical: Boys suck, but I need to be around them anyway.

The content hasn’t changed much, but the sound has. Alright Still was heavily influenced by reggae and ska. Allen has traded reggae for ‘80s style synth pop. The keyboards, electronic drums and synthesized string sections are a decent compliment for Allen’s voice. However, while the change in sound works, it doesn’t pop out of the speakers like Allen’s reggae sound did. Nothing is as sunny, bright or memorable as “Smile” or “LDN.” Allen’s voice is her best attribute. Her unaffected delivery with a hint of Cockney dialect sets her apart from a million other pop tarts.

On the first couple of listens, it seems like Allen hasn’t matured at all from a lyrical standpoint. However, she is slightly more subtle this time around. For example, “The Fear” is very ambiguous. She sings about how she wants a “fuckton of diamonds” and has heard that people die while mining for them. Later on, she laments on how you have to get naked to become famous. She then quips that she will be the first in line to do such a thing. She blurs the line between naiveté and self-deprecation.

Other songs are blunt in the grand Lily Allen tradition. “Fuck You” is exactly what it sounds like, Lily Allen telling someone to fuck off. The piano part in the song seems to be cribbed from Davy Jones’ early 1970s hit, “Girl.” She barely avoids Kelly Osbourne territory, and if the tune wasn’t so bouncy, it would have been a major misstep.

The album’s best moment is “Never Going to Happen,” which begins as a tango before mutating into the reggae influenced chorus. Allen’s pen is at it’s most cutting, lashing out lyrical bombs like “I know you feel betrayed, but it’s been weeks since I’ve got laid/what do you expect me to do?” The bored tone in her voice makes the lyrics hit harder than they would if she’d delivered them in a rage.

Lily Allen is 23 years old, so her petty lyrics about boys are still believable. However, it’s hard to listen to It’s Not Me, It’s You without wondering how long she can keep this up. You can only tell a boy to fuck off so many times before it gets old. For now though, Allen has released a competent follow-up to her debut. It gets a little samey after awhile, but she throws enough curveballs to keep it interesting. As with Alright Still, the good moments (“The Fear,” “Never Going to Happen”) are really good, and everything else is well crafted. If she can figure out how to expand on the subtlety of “The Fear,” Lily Allen will become a legitimate songwriter.