album: west end girl (by lily allen)
WEST END GIRL by LILY ALLEN ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧
overall: we are men of action, you and i. lies do not become us. i like this album 100% because it's a dramatic shitshow about someone else's divorce and i don't feel the need to dress it up and pretend otherwise. when i was a little girl lily allen did a bunch of interesting things to the music industry and now she's doing those exact same things but about gossip. i'm mid-divorce and i'm also only human.
WEST END GIRL ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧
musicality: yes (i'm honestly a fan this even if it's simple, i think it can stand on its own as a choice because she didn't get stuck in it)
lyricism: yes (i think she nails the casual chat style even before that insane outro)
branding: no (listen i didn't listen to anything after the fear and i'm not sorry)
earworm: no (it's fun but forgettable)
likability: yes (i mean. had me hooked instantly. so)
RUMINATING ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧ ✧
musicality: yes (i like how experimental this album gets, i will say)
lyricism: no (like it's fine but it's not charming enough to make the simplicity work)
branding: no (same breathy issue as previous song for the most part)
earworm: yes ("what a fucking line" carries this score)
likability: no (i'm not even going to try to defend this it just never clicked)
SLEEPWALKING ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧
musicality: yes (everything i liked about west end girl but used far more intentionally)
lyricism: yes (some of these ideas she revisits to extrapolate on and i think it's a waste when she nailed it so quickly here)
branding: yes (this is about when i started to really like this as a lily allen album)
earworm: no (it is however kind of hookless)
likability: no (it's good but it's also boring. custard cream of songs)
TENNIS ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
musicality: yes (fantastic lead-in, really good backing band, layering is so lovely and dreamy)
lyricism: yes (the way she unspools this and gets stuck on the emotional affair is so tense)
branding: yes (the madeline outro was perfect)
earworm: yes (let's fucking go!! song of the summer)
likability: yes (this album is on my website so i can reveiw this song as a five star lmfao)
MADELINE ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦
musicality: yes (the flamenco influence is so fun and stressful)
lyricism: yes (absolute champion boxer work, i love the flows)
branding: yes (this feels like such a tired and intuitively adult evolution of her original album)
earworm: yes (haunts me like a ghost it's so fucking fun)
likability: yes (i screamed out loud multiple times the first time i heard this)
RELAPSE ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧
musicality: yes (i do like how each song feels like a natural continuation of the last one as the genre evolves, also god the "i need you to love me" is diamond)
lyricism: no (i want to like it but i do think the cliches being intentional doesn't undo them being cliche)
branding: no (it's fine)
earworm: yes (the backing layers that i've already praised are what decided this for me)
likability: yes (i've never listened to this outside of the full album but i always love when it comes on)
PUSSY PALACE ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧ ✧
musicality: no (this for me is when the album's flow begins to fall apart)
lyricism: no (i will not deny that it's really funny but oh my god)
branding: yes (i'm not happy about it)
earworm: yes (i have gotten this stuck on my head multiple times but i've never enjoyed it)
likability: no (this is unfortunately so fucking boring after madeline already covered these ideas with so much more emotional weight)
4CHAN STAN ✦ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
musicality: no (feels like she hit auto backing track 3 on my keyboard and clocked out)
lyricism: no (the fullbody cringe that i crunged. modern taylor swift level of tacky. also it doesn't make sense)
branding: no (it's not witty, it's not sharp, it's not interesting)
earworm: yes (like sure i've gotten it stuck in my head but that's also true for katseye songs)
likability: no (this is the song i hate most from the first half of the album)
NONMONOGAMUMMY ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧ ✧
musicality: no (i don't care that it's stupid i like her falling back on the london jamaican influence but it's incoherently mixed)
lyricism: yes (i hate to admit it but she is getting back on form here)\ branding: yes (i can hear an unreleased demo from 2009 behind it)
earworm: no (oh my god absolutely not)
likability: no (this is so jarring after one of the worst songs ever penned)
JUST ENOUGH ✦ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
musicality: yes (it's fine for what it is but i hate ballads)
lyricism: no (that read like an instagram caption)
branding: no (i mean fuck i hope not. i liked lily allen because she was funny)
earworm: no (i'm forgetting it as i listen to it)
likability: no (why was this the other bookend for nonmonogamummy?? are you insane???)
DALLAS MAJOR ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧
musicality: no (i will say that keyboard backing track 5 is at least jazzier)
lyricism: yes (once she remembers what flows suit her she's great at hitting her marks)
branding: yes (watching the sense of humor return to the songs with wild relief)
earworm: yes (oh no i've one hundred percent hummed this while doing chores)
likability: no (i don't have any goodwill left this deep in the album for it to burn)
BEG FOR ME ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧ ✧
musicality: no (it's hard because the verses are perfect and the chorus is... fine... but c's don't get degrees)
lyricism: yes (this is what i was saying about her hitting her flows when they're good, i love her language choices)
branding: yes (arguably one of the most perfect hits even with the chorus being a little boring)
earworm: no (someone should have doubled back to make this chorus punchier or at least tied the samples in a bit better)
likability: yes (despite it all i'm warming back up to her at this point)
LET YOU W/IN ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✧
musicality: yes (this is so jarringly well-constructed)
lyricism: yes (genuinely i think this might be one of her best songs artistically)
branding: no (that said i would love it if i could come back and change this score because its such a good direction)
earworm: yes (i'm obsessed with this song in a way that transcends the gossip enjoyment)
likability: yes (jumpscared me because i was not expecting it but it might be my long-term favourite song on the album)
FRUITYLOOP ✦ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧
musicality: yes (it's basically a reheat of the previous song but i like that so)
lyricism: no (she thinks she can dreamily wander her way through lyrics that are as boring as 4chan without me noticing but i did)
branding: no (it's fine)
earworm: no (i'm falling asleep at the wheel because of how badly i want to stop listening to it)
likability: no (i've never wanted to strangle a woman more for getting my hopes up with a song and then making it again with less subtlety or passion)