Lily Allen: It’s Not You, It’s MeSpunky Brit combines heavy-handed
production and immature lyrics
There are particular
types of sarcastic wisdom and off-handed expletives invoked throughout Lily Allen's sophomore release,
It’s Not Me, It's You. It's the type that is enough for any teenage girl to mold her
entire year around, but drops like hollow bullets for anyone who has
moved out of their parents’ house and had their heart broken more
than once. A line like, “Life’s about film stars and less about
mothers / it’s all about fast cars and passing each other / but it
doesn’t matter ‘cause I’m packing plastic,” from “The Fear,”
exercises a girl’s right to spend a few pounds when things get too
serious. Elsewhere, the pragmatic analysis of flings and the relationships
they become on “Who’d Have Known,” though easily applied to real life, still leaves something to be desired.
Lily Allen: It’s Not You, It’s MeBut even if you ignore the
cute lyrics and focus on every chord and cadence, there is
nothing here to write home about musically. Heavy production, heavy
hooks and heavy club-friendly beats are the status quo, everything
coming across like someone else’s tampering rather than Allen’s
creative doing. By the time quick-paced, pseudo-ballad “Back To
The Start” hits with a simple piano base and the
throbbing heat of a synthetic kick-and-snare combo, it's obvious the album is merely lapping itself. “Never Gonna
Happen” carries the majority of the character of this dozen-song
offering, a hopping lyrical melody bouncing through snappy doses of
accordion. And by the time "Fuck You"'s chorus begins (hint: it repeats the title over and over), you'll start to wonder if, actually, it's not you, it's this album.