Following the release of her searing new album West End Girl, Lily Allen says she’s leaving her past exactly where it belongs: the past.
In a conversation with Interview Magazine published Tuesday (Oct. 28), the British singer — who split from actor David Harbour after four years of marriage in February — said she has no inclinations toward “revenge” following her breakup, which inspired much of the material on the LP. On tracks like “West End Girl” and “Nonmonogamummy,” Allen details a situation in which she felt pressured to enter an open relationship, the terms of which were subsequently violated by her partner; on songs such as “Madeline” and “P—y Palace,” she sings about alleged infidelity.
“That’s what’s fun about this record,” she explained to the publication. “It’s viscerally like going through the motions. At the time, I was really trying to process things, and that’s great in terms of the album, but I don’t feel confused or angry now. I don’t need revenge.”
“I wrote this record in 10 days in December, and I feel very differently about the whole situation now,” she added. “We all go through breakups and it’s always f—ing brutal.”
Released Oct. 24, West End Girl marks the first full-length Allen has dropped since separating from the Stranger Things actor. The pair had tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Las Vegas in 2020 after meeting on the dating app Raya the year prior.
The new album — which has been receiving acclaim from both fans and critics online — seemingly finds Allen breaking down the reasons why she and Harbour split, though she reminded fans during her Interview convo, “Some of it is based on truth and some of it is fantasy.”
She also opened up about the struggles of meeting new people after the end of a long-term romance. “They’re awful, especially if you’re going through heartbreak,” she said of dating apps. “There is nothing more depressing than hundreds of people that are nothing like the person that you’re missing. It’s just like, ‘No, that’s not him. That’s not him. That’s not him.’”
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