Some upbringing, Actor/Comedian Keith Allen is her father, her mother was involved in making 'Shaun Of The Dead', family friends with Joe Strummer, etc. Album and artist self-promoted via myspace and a debut single proper going straight to number one in the UK single charts. Talent? Well, she's got a slightly weird voice. I guess her fathers influence, but the semi-singing, semi-spoken style absolutely works, because her voice is also strong enough to carry it off. She's written the songs for the album with two or three different producers, yet the entire affair sounds particular cohesive. She's been famously described by one music critic as a Mike Skinner with tits, based entirely on 2nd track, the very streets-like 'Knock Em Out', Lily trying to escape unwanted male advances in a club. It's all back to basics, each song here is three or four minutes long and seemingly designed to be a single. A simple approach, The Beatles did it, it's the proper pop music approach, no filler. The lead single 'Smile', the number one hit, isn't actually even close to being the best song on the album. It's a slightly irritating pop tune, far better in every respect is the amazingly happy sounding 'IDN', lyrical observations acute, it's not quite as happy as it first appears. Yet, the chourus is irristable, the bouncy, reggae influenced tune seems particularly plastic and shiny, yet everything here is. Plastic and shiny? Yet, the album overcomes any possible fakeness or usual major label overproduction through Lily Allen, her voice and lyrics are not your usual record label pop-star fare. She carries the album, it's her voice that gives the tunes their context. Various songs about relationships and based around Lily and her life in London.

If we're here talking highlights, although the album has no particular weakspots, the gorgeous 'Littlest Things' has to rank as possibly the finest thing here. Over a delicate piano pattern, soft beats, Lily reminisces about the good times in a relationship that has fallen on harder times. 'Dirty grotty magazines, watching DVDs', we've real attention to small details. 'Alfie', now there's a proper London name! The song's about her brother, she's said she regrets writing so much about her early life, although we're to take the events dipicted with a pinch of salt. Married to a tune so bouncy it's wonder it doesn't float off into the air altogether, cheesy lyrics to go with the cheesy tune, yet it somehow works. She's an artist, like Mike Skinner with a simple formula that works only because of the personality of the artist in question. The same formula repeated by someone else would sound dreadful. The same formula repeated by Lily herself may well wear thin through subsequent repeated albums, but hold on. We're not there yet. Oh, did I mention the fact that this eleven track album runs to a mere 37 minutes? That's not a bad thing, by the way. It's a proper pop album length for a proper pop album, perhaps the finest pure pop release of this year. You maybe shouldn't like this, but you will. It's a very addictive record.

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Readers Comments Chris Jones futureproof381@hotmail.com This is indeed a fine album,and the fact Lily didn't win anything at the Brits should be seen as a vindication rather than a defeat-the brits honour rubbish anyway.