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Lily Allen admits her critically acclaimed album West End Girl as a “really angry record.”
For her March cover story with ELLE UK, Allen, 40, spoke to the outlet about the making of her fifth studio album and its success. The March issue of ELLE UK is on sale starting Feb. 5.
“I don’t think that it’s a particularly self-aware record,” Allen said. “It’s a really angry record. And it’s a lot more about rage directed towards other people. It’s not really about self-reflection.”
ELLE UK / Alana O’Herlihy
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The British pop singer revealed she “was processing things that were happening at a quite traumatic period of time” while creating West End Girl and used the album as a means of channeling her anger.
“I think that if I’ve learnt anything about myself from it, it’s that rage is powerful and necessary, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing to express,” she explained. “In fact, repressed rage is arguably more damaging.”
ELLE UK / Alana O’Herlihy
West End Girl, which chronicles the unraveling of her marriage to her ex-husband David Harbour, won over listeners with her raw and vulnerable lyricism. Speaking of the positive response from fans, Allen noted, “I don’t know if it’s great for the soul, but it’s good for the ego.”
“When I wrote this album, I spent about eight months being absolutely terrified of what was gonna come back to me,” she admitted.
Since the release of her album on Oct. 24, Allen revealed fans have reached out to her to share their own experiences with infidelity in relationships.
“It is f—ing insane,” she said. “In my Instagram DMs, I get loads of women telling me really graphic stuff. Literally like, ‘My husband will be f—ing me in the ass while he is texting other women.’ It makes me feel so s—.”
Ultimately, though, Allen doesn’t take her platform as a musician for granted.
“All I can do is write some music that hopefully they identify with and makes them feel less alone,” she said.
