Before ever hearing a Lily Allen song, I was utterly sick of her.
Allen, who became one of the hottest acts of 2006 in the United Kingdom, has been ubiquitous in music blogs and magazines.
It's annoying to see over-coverage of anyone, but triply so when blogs are already posting topless paparazzi shots of a Brit who hasn't even released an album on these shores yet. Typically, Americans get to see a pop star's nether regions when her career is barrel-rolling toward Earth and desperate for press.
Then again, Allen doesn't seem like a traditional pop star.
She's a new breed, self-effacing, honest and witty. In "Knock 'Em Out," her debut album's first piano-driven song, she lists herpes and pregnancy as possible excuses to block a sleazy guy at a bar who winds up hitting on her friend instead.
People are also reading…
The attention is justified after listening to "Alright, Still," released this week. It's packed with breezy club singles in which Allen contorts her voice from sultry R&B songstress to wisecracking rapper.
Allen's vocal range isn't incredible, but she makes up for it with personality and originality. She's like a cross between Gwen Stefani, Lady Sovereign and Mike Skinner.
She still manages to sound sweet and classy when she drops a "crack whore" in the first verse of "LDN" (text-speak for London). The horn-driven track is one of the better sunshiny summer songs to hit iPods in a while. The irony is the feel-good vibe of the song helps to contradict the underlying message that although everything looks nice at first glance during a walk around town, things are actually kind of ugly with a better examination.
The music is as catchy as any Stefani song, but where the former No Doubt singer might have been content to say the world's great when the sun is out, Allen's more realistic perspective is welcome.
You also don't want to do her wrong in romance.
"Not Big" is a dis track pointed toward a jilted lover, as you might be able to guess from the title.
The video for the lead single, "Smile," has Allen munching potato chips and chocolate while sabotaging her ex-boyfriend at every turn — from organizing a mugging to trashing his apartment and ruining his DJ night. When he calls her up to "have a little whine and moan," she responds by dropping laxatives in his coffee.
When Allen coyly croons in breathy vocals about smiling when she sees her ex cry, you laugh with her. So maybe she's also like a fem-Eminem, except funnier and more down-to-earth.
Be prepared to see even more of Allen this year — she's the musical guest this week on Saturday Night Live — and hope she steers clear of dudes with kids and hotel heiresses.
– Kevin W. Smith
Lily Allen, "Alright, Still"
Capitol Records
Download: "LDN," "Smile."
