It's Not Me, It's You

There's something about Lily Allen that intrigues me, beyond that she's as cute as a button. In all the articles I read about her there's something very emotionally vulnerable about an otherwise ripe paparazzi target. She's very young but has an honesty that is reflected in her music.

Her second album, "It's Not Me, It's You," has more of her sassy songs that come from the point of view of a young woman who takes no bull and has a complicated view of the opposite sex. The songs, all co-written by Allen, are less ska-influenced than her first album, and sound pretty much like any synth-pop song you'd hear on the radio. Her voice, thin and girlish, wouldn't impress the American Idol judges. It's the lyrics that set her apart.

While her lyrics are distinct, they're not exactly Dylanesque. They sound like the jottings of a moderately literate high-school girl, equal parts earnestness and score-settling. Some of the rhymes are tortured, such as a line that goes: "Cause it's people like you/that need to get slew." She also gleefully tosses out swear words, as if she had just learned them and likes the effect she gets while saying them.

As with her first album, there's lots of songs about how horrible boys are. "Not Fair" complains about an otherwise upstanding young man who is bad in bed: "Oh, you're supposed to care, but you never make me scream." "Never Gonna Happen" is a frank declaration that an admirer is never going to get anywhere in his seduction attempt, while "Fuck You" takes on a guy who doesn't like gay people.

Surprisingly though, there are a few songs that celebrate love, like "Who'd Have Known," and the most sophisticated song on the album, "Chinese," which rhapsodizes about the simple aspects of a relationship, such as ordering Chinese food and watching the telly. On the other hand, there's a song about God ("Him") which recalls Joan Osborne's "One of Us," but without the sense of irony. Allen's observations about the deity seem entirely random, such as "his favourite band is Creedence Clearwater Revival."

After one spin of the album I liked it, but after the second I was tired of it. It remains to be seen whether Allen can rise above tabloid darling and advance as a songwriter.