I like what I understand of her lyrics, even if they're sometimes frothy and affected, the musical backing fails in comparison and is the weakest element in most of the songs (harmonywise—
the sound is excellent, almost perversely tasteful in all the right ways). To me, the album's two singles,
LDN and
Smile, plus
Littlest Things are the outstanding tracks, especially the latter, and in particular the way she sings "and you could tell that I was nervous, so you held my hand".
Some of the rockist sentiments in the hype are very irritating—"AT LAST, somebody who writes her own material" and so on—but I agree with many of the lauders in many ways: it
is invigorating to see a self-propelled and self-prompted young female artist breaking through big time, seemingly, without her intentions being compromised all that much. Her professed (and by many—repudiated)
realness I don't care that much about; I don't know anything about Keith Allen except what I found on Wikipedia, and that didn't make me any wiser as to some people's antipathy towards him, and even if he's as smug a rotter as some claim, I don't see why that should tarnish his daughter. "But she chooses whichever approach/personality/style seems fit for the occasion at hand"? Yes, and in doing so she very much portraits the life of many a young dame in our time.
On another subject: why is it "littlest" and not, say, "little"?
Poisonous Dart: If you want a "safe for hip hop heads"
LDN-version, check out the link below. It's
LDN underpinned with the
Fix Up, Look Sharp-beat (i.e.
The Big Beat-beat).
Lily Allen - LDN (2)