Lily Allen speaks openly about the meaning of WEST END GIRL: The new album was born out of pain and sadness over the end of her marriage to David Harbour.
Lily Allen explained the meaning of her album WEST END GIRL and found personal words about the story behind the work. In an interview with the “Perfect” platform, the singer says that the deeply sad and painful album is the result of her separation from her former husband David Harbour. The emotional strain of this time almost jeopardized her abstinence, she reports.
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WEST END GIRL, released on October 24th via BMG, is Allen’s first record since 2018’s NO SHAME.
In the interview, Allen says, “I have deep-rooted issues of rejection and abandonment that I’ve struggled with for most of my adult life and probably a lot of my childhood as well. And I had extreme reactions to things back then.”
“I’m a pretty codependent person.”
She’s referring to the breakdown of her marriage, as she explains: “It’s hard for me not having my partner, you know? And I’m a pretty codependent person. I find it difficult to lean on the people who are there for me while I lack comfort and stability from those who aren’t available to me.”
Listen to the title track “West End Girl” here
Allen was recently in a relationship with actor David Harbor, who became known for the series Stranger Things. According to NME, the two met in 2019 on the dating app Raya. They married in September 2020 in an intimate ceremony in Las Vegas.
Separation from Stranger Things star David Harbour
Earlier this year, rumors of a breakup emerged, accompanied by speculation about a possible fling for Harbour. As NME reports, Allen checked into a therapy facility earlier this year to deal with the “emotional turmoil” of the breakup.
“I know I have to make myself happy, and that upsets me extremely,” she continued, speaking of the “humiliation and shame” that came with dating in your 40s. “It means putting in the damn work, and I feel like I’ve been doing this work forever. I’m exhausted from it. I thought it was over. I thought I found my happy ending.”
A vulnerable work
WEST END GIRL is Allen’s fifth studio album and her first release in seven years. As NME reports, the artist wrote all 14 songs within ten days in Los Angeles last December. She worked with Blue May, Seb Chew and Kito. In interviews, Allen described the album as her most vulnerable work to date. “The album is vulnerable in a way that my music has perhaps never been before – at least not in the context of a whole album,” she previously said of the long player, according to NME.
Tracklist
- “West End Girl”
- “Ruminating”
- “Sleepwalking”
- “Tennis”
- “Madeline”
- “Relapse”
- “Pussy Palace”
- “4Chain Stan”
- “Nonmonogamummy”
- “Just Enough”
- “Dallas Major”
- “Beg For Me”
- “Let You Win”
- “Fruit Loop”