Lily Allen - Alright, Still (Deluxe) '2009

Tracks list

Tracklist:

[3:17] 01. Lily Allen - Smile
[2:54] 02. Clive Hunte - Knock em Out
[3:11] 03. Clive Hunte - Ldn
[3:29] 04. Lily Allen - Everythings Just Wonderful
[3:17] 05. Clive Hunte - Not Big
[3:07] 06. Clive Hunte - Friday Night
[4:06] 07. Clive Hunte - Shame For You
[3:02] 08. Lily Allen - Littlest Things
[4:06] 09. Lily Allen - Take What You Take
[3:58] 10. Lily Allen - Friend Of Mine
[2:45] 11. Clive Hunte - Alfie
[3:42] 12. Lily Allen - Mr. Blue Sky
[3:15] 13. Dan Carey - Cheryl Tweedy
[3:00] 14. Lily Allen - Nan Youre A Window Shopper
[2:32] 15. Lily Allen - Blank Expression
[4:08] 16. John Waddington - Absolutely Nothing
[4:25] 17. Lily Allen - U Killed It
[2:40] 18. Lily Allen - Everybodys Changing
[3:46] 19. Lily Allen - Naïve (Bbc Radio 1s Jo Whileys Live Lounge)

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ABOUT THE ALBUM
2 disc(s) - 19 track(s)
Total length: 01:04:22
Main artist: Lily Allen
Label: Parlophone UK
Genre: Rap
2009 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company

Like most British pop, Lily Allens debut album, Alright, Still, overflows with
impeccably shiny, creative productions. However, Allen attempts to set herself
apart from the likes of Rachel Stevens, Natasha Bedingfield, and Girls Aloud
with a cheeky, (mostly) amusing vindictive streak in her lyrics that belies the
sugarcoated sounds around them. You know exactly what she means when she says
her ex is not big whatsoever on Not Big; later, she revels in being the one that
got away on Shame for You. However, this nice-then-naughty approach is at its
best on Alright, Stills singles, which open the album in a one-two-three punch.
Another ex-boyfriend kiss-off, Smile, has a silky verse melody that just barely
conceals her spite, which finally spills over on the chorus: At first, when I
see you cry/It makes me smile. But even here, Allen keeps her revenge sweet --
she sounds like shes singing about how ice cream or puppies or being in love
makes her smile, which gives the song an extra sting. Knock Em Out is an even
sassier, more stylized battle of the sexes than the Streets Fit But You Know It
(and could very well be the response from the girl in Mike Skinners song). And
LDN is a glorious summer confection, even if its all lies underneath the Lord
Kitchener sample and sun is in the sky chorus. Alright, Stills production and
arrangements, courtesy of Greg Kurstin, Mark Ronson, and Futurecut, balance
Allens tart observations with a backdrop of pop-grime beats and freewheeling,
feel-good ska that makes her sound playful and kittenish instead of just catty.
While the album doesnt exactly go downhill after its opening salvo, it does lose
some steam, particularly with Take What You Take, a song that feels out of
character with the rest of Alright, Still because its uncharacteristically dull,
and Alfie, which falls especially flat as the albums final song. Allen softens
her tough-girl pose more successfully on Little Things, a ballad that celebrates
the mundane moments of a dying relationship (Youd take me out shopping and all
wed buy was trainers/As if we ever needed anything to entertain us) and
Everythings Just Wonderful, where bureaucrats that wont give me a mortgage are
the targets of her ire instead of a previous (or soon-to-be previous) boyfriend.
As with Nellie McKay (another young, opinionated woman eager to make herself the
maverick in her chosen style of music), the dichotomy between Allens sweet sound
and ironic lyrics could be seen as either witty or clever-clever. Still, enough
of Alright, Still works -- as pure pop and on the meta level Allen aims for --
to make the album a fun, summery fling, and maybe more. [The U.S. version of
Alright, Still includes a remix of Smile and the 50 Cent parody Nan Youre a
Window Shopper as well as U-MYX software, which allows listeners to make their
own remixes of Smile and Knock Em Out -- not an essential addition, but a
surprisingly fun one nonetheless.]
© Heather Phares /TiVo


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