Clever social commentary but a swear box is needed! (It's Not Me It's You - Lily Allen)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	It's Not Me It's You - Lily Allen
Date:	30/06/09 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some catchy tunes, decent lyrics

Disadvantages: Swearing and still very poppy

I tend to ignore the charts and living outside of the UK, that's not really difficult, I'm always shocked to see how bad music is on the airwaves when I return to the country, so I set myself a task of reviewing the latest album by every Glastonbury act this year, to see if it really was old hat and dire or whether there were a few gems.

I've no knowledge of Lily Allen's debut album, so won't be comparing the two. Listening to this album for the first time, I found it neither as innovative nor as different as it had been hyped in the press but did find that it manages to remain quirky enough to seem unique compared to its commercial contemporaries.

Musically I found it a bit stripped down and whilst I actually enjoyed the relatively minimalistic electro pop sound, I'm not sure it will stand the test of time and think parts of tracks seem flimsy and those particular sections may age terribly in the same way that Gimme Gimme Gimme by Abba and I Want to Break Free by Queen have large sections that seem irrelevant and pointless now.

On the up side, the music is fairly jolly and even if her voice is at times more of a fast talk, I find that it sparkles through. She looks good and the social commentary on this album, in particular on the hit single "Fear" is clever and wise. I'm not totally convinced with the accent, sounds a bit like a posh girl auditioning for Eastenders, a Sophie Ellis Bextor meets Martine McCutcheon but I find it easy enough to listen to.

What's not though, is that for me having a pop artist swear regularly in a seemingly innocent way makes a mockery of previous artist's ingenuity in avoiding censorship and doesn't add a great deal to songs - it all seems too easy. I always think that swearing should be limited to specific genres such as hip hop or various brands of metal and it's not always wise then either. Pop artists doing it, just sets a bad example to kids.

Overall I enjoyed the album from a distance, it's not the kind of thing I'd listen to regularly but it's definitely one of the better albums of the Glastonbury acts so far.


1 Everyone's At It
2 Fear
3 Not Fair
4 22
5 I Could Say
6 Back To The Start
7 Never Gonna Happen
8 F**k You
9 Who'd Have Known
10 Chinese
11 Him
12 He Wasn't There

Summary: At least she doesn't sing like Axl Rose lol