Lily Allen described her new album as “an act of desperation”.
The Smile singer unveiled her long-awaited fifth LP West End Girl last month, only a few days after she revealed the unexpected project. She explained that she never approached the record, which she created in just ten days after her marriage to David Harbour ended, as something meant to succeed commercially.
Lily admitted she was not even sure she would allow anyone to hear it.
She told CBS News: “When I was making it, I honestly was not thinking about it as a commercial endeavour. It really came from a place of desperation.”
“While I was writing, I did not know if it would ever be released until very close to the date it came out. I kept asking myself, ‘Do I actually want to show this to the world?’ But I was not asking that while I was writing it, because the process felt very much like… I do not love the word, but people talk about ‘catharsis’ or ‘therapy’ in relation to music so often.”
“It is strange to even think about whether, as an artist, you should be revealing what is happening in your mind as part of your work. It is unusual that this is where we are as people.”
The 40 year old singer previously said that West End Girl should not be viewed as a “cruel album”.
She told Interview magazine: “It is not a cruel album. I do not feel like I am being harsh. These were simply the emotions I was dealing with at that moment.”
Lily said her mindset has shifted completely since she wrote the project, and she no longer feels any desire for “revenge”.
She said: “I wrote this record over ten days in December, and I see the whole situation very differently now. Everyone experiences breakups and they are always unbelievably painful. But it is rare to write about it while you are actually in the middle of it.”
“That is part of what makes this album interesting. It captures each stage of what I was going through. At the time, I was really trying to figure everything out, and that worked creatively, but I do not feel lost or angry anymore. I do not need revenge.”
Lizzo has responded to fat-shamers online.
The Grammy-winning artist went on her official Instagram page to call out people making jokes about her body.
“Today I came across a fat joke about me in 2025 and it was going viral,” she wrote alongside a photo of herself relaxing in a yellow and black snakeskin bikini.
“It was a silly joke and they were laughing at me simply because I’m fat. Let me remind everyone to never let anyone make you feel bad for what you decide to do with your own body. When you are bigger, they talk st. When you are smaller, they talk st. Your body will never be enough for them because it is not meant for them. It is meant for you.”
The About Damn Time singer has faced body-shaming comments throughout her entire mainstream pop career.
Earlier this year, during an appearance on the Just Trish podcast, Lizzo shared that she tried Ozempic but eventually chose to focus on changing her diet as part of her personal weight loss journey.
“If I get a BBL, mind ur business. If I lose 100lbs, mind ur business. If I gain every pound back and then some, mind ur f**king business,” she wrote at the end of her caption.
“Anyways, my fat ass stays living with a paid-off mortgage in y’all b**ches heads.”
Lizzo’s message to her critics comes shortly after she drew attention for a Substack essay she posted titled Cancel Me (Again): A ‘Cancelled’ Woman’s Take on Why Everyone Should Get Cancelled at Least Once.
“Not everybody liked my most recent essay and that is exactly why I wrote it,” she said in a follow up post.
“I deserve the freedom to express myself like anyone else. I am human and I have earned the right to be wrong, to be prickly and even unlikable sometimes. It feels freeing for someone like me who used to be a chronic people pleaser. Thank you for the comments and the criticism. I welcome all of it.”
