Lily Allen's return to music first came in 2012, as a guest star on P!nk's marriage and motherhood album "The Truth About Love". Her appearance may have been brief, but it turns out to be more of a pivotal moment in signaling the direction of her own new album, the Kanye-inspired "Sheezus". Since her 2009 electro-pop masterpiece "It's Not Me, It's You", she married and had two kids, so she's definitely feeling the joys of being a wife and mother. Just take a look at the first in five songs dedicated to her domestic life, the excellent bubblegum-pop "L8 CMMR". It's certainly a better indication of the album's mood than the M.I.A.-styled title track, a dark, bleepy synthpop track that name-drops Beyonce, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lorde, and Lady Gaga. Similar to Alanis Morissette's take on domesticity in her 2012 set "Havoc and Bright Lights", Lily Allen may still have plenty to say about the modern age, but her barbs don't dig quite as deep as they did on "Alright, Still". Perhaps her new home-life may have softened her sound, but when she's not fawning over her husband and kids, she directs her attention to society, whether it be in the UK or the US. Besides the fame-starving opening song, she's not pleased about the narcissism that has overtaken the internet generation in "Insincerely Yours" and "URL Badman". She also takes a swipe at the entitled in "Silver Spoon", whose irony (considering Allen was a rich child herself) makes the song even more infuriating to the critical listener. Then, of course, the brightest stand-out of all the tracks here is the feminist-infused dance-pop of the lead single "Hard Out Here". It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that her humorous, yet razor sharp tongue can still manifest itself in some great, if controversial, songs.
It may be the best song here, not because it just causes controversy, but because it's one of the few moments on "Sheezus" where Lily Allen is recognizable as herself, not some bored housewife who complains about the outside world to her husband and proceeds to just cook dinner a few minutes later. That notion isn't just tied into the tracks, but that produces a slightly bitter demeanor in the songs themselves. Allen's bid to make a girls-night-out jam ("Our Time") is desperate at best, since her idea of fun has been reduced to partying at home listening to Def Jam. Maybe she's just lost her touch, but that same bitterness only increases the cynicism in "Sheezus" overall, which actually brings it above the stale taste that "Alright, Still" gave after a couple listens. This record is far more musically diverse than both of her previous efforts, so she's succeeded on that linear level. She can seemingly do it all, from R&B lifted from Madonna's "Bedtime Stories" to Rihanna-styled hip-hop, from Vampire Weekend's indie-pop to laid-back soul pop in the vein of Jessie J. "Sheezus" may not be as jaw-dropping as her debut or as well-rounded as "It's Not Me, It's You", but it's still a worthy addition to her catalog and a reminder that Britain's favorite loud-mouth can still spew clever insults with the best, even if she now prefers living peacefully at home.
Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Sheezus 2. L8 CMMR 3. Air Balloon
4. Our Time 5. Insincerely Yours 6. Take My Place
7. As Long As
I Got You 8. Close Your Eyes 9.
URL Badman
10. Silver Spoon 11. Life for Me 12. Hard Out Here
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