West End Girl is the fifth studio album by English singer Lily Allen, released on 24 October 2025 on BMG. It is her first album in seven years.[4] Recorded in Los Angeles over sixteen days in December 2024, the lyrics reflect on the undoing of Allen's marriage to actor David Harbour, and how she processed his alleged acts of infidelity and her emotional response.[5][6]
In April 2019, Allen revealed on Beats 1 radio that she was working on her next record which would be a concept album.[7] Allen later said in March 2020 that her new album only features "odd mentions" of her past addictions. She said: "This album I've been doing, I've been writing for just over a year, but I feel like I've moved on mentally so far from that time."[8]
In late 2022, Allen booked five weeks in a music studio, but she said it felt "contrived" and that the music was not ready to be released.[9] In 2024, she said she had recorded around 50 songs for her next music project, which she was still working on.[10]
Composition
West End Girl was noted for its narrative arc and song cycle format.[11][2][12] Allen stated that the lyrics draw on real experiences from her marriage, but that the album "could be considered autofiction" and that she used "artistic licence".[5][6][13] For instance, she described Madeline, who appears in two songs, as a fictional character who is a construct of others.[13]
The title track "West End Girl" opens the album and features "dreamy, musical theatre-inspired" production.[14] It tells the story of Allen moving to New York following her wedding and flying back to the UK after getting a role in a London play. At the end of the song, she receives a phone call with only her side of the conversation audible, reluctantly agreeing to her husband's request for an open marriage.[11] "Ruminating" is built over "trebly synths" and heavily auto-tuned vocals,[2] with lyrics about overthinking.[12] The 1950s music-inspired "Sleepwalking" discusses feeling trapped and gaslit in a relationship.[11][12] In "Tennis", Allen attempts to have a normal meal with her family until she finds a text on her husband's phone from a woman named Madeline and repeatedly demands to know who she is.[11] It is followed by "Madeline", a song with flamenco and spaghetti Western influences.[15] Earning comparisons to Dolly Parton's "Jolene", it finds Allen confronting her husband's mistress, who responds with platitudes in a valley girl accent.[11][15] "Relapse" draws on two-step garage.[2] It details Allen's struggle with maintaining her sobriety amidst her marriage difficulties over an "arrhythmic beat".[11] "Pussy Palace" sees her throwing her husband out of the marital home and sending him away to his separate apartment, which she assumed was a dojo. When she goes there to leave something for him, she instead discovers numerous items such as sex toys and condoms that lead her to question whether he is a sex addict.[15]
In "4chan Stan", Allen mocks her husband with references to the imageboard website 4chan over "wistful" production.[6][2] "Nonmonogamummy", a dancehall-infused collaboration with Specialist Moss, discusses dating as a woman in her late thirties and people pleasing.[2][14] The ballad "Just Enough", with "lush strings" inspired by old Hollywood, finds Allen wondering whether her husband fathered a child with another woman.[14][15] In the soul-pop "Dallas Major",[3] she assumes the name on a dating app but dislikes the experience.[2] "Beg for Me" uses a slowed down sample of Lumidee's song "Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)".[3] Its lyrics detail what Allen wants in a relationship.[14] "Let You W/In" discusses the end of her marriage with a "no-nonsense" attitude.[3][14] In the closing track "Fruityloop", Allen makes tentative peace with the events described on West End Girl with a reference to her second album It's Not Me, It's You (2009).[6]
Release and promotion
On 20 October 2025, she announced that her fifth studio album, West End Girl, would be released four days later.[16]West End Girl was released for streaming on 24 October 2025, on BMG, her first album in seven years.[4] The album cover and illustrations were created by Spanish artist Nieves González.[1][17]
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, West End Girl received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 from eleven critic scores.[19] The review aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it a weighted average score of 8.0 out of 10 from six critic scores.[18]
In a five-star review for The Independent, Hannah Ewens said West End Girl was "a brutal, tell-all masterpiece", naming it as her best work since It's Not Me, It's You. Ewens said that the "intense story-driven format lets her sound sharper, smarter, and more clear-eyed than before". Ewens contrasted the album to other divorce albums like Beyoncé's Lemonade and Adele's 30, arguing that its fast turnaround allowed Allen to seize control of her narrative and hold little back.[15] Ali Shutler of NME hailed the album as "a vicious, vulnerable and victorious comeback". Shutler said that "there's a lot of grief and misery across West End Girl, but it never sounds depressing", attributing it to Allen's long-held "knack for making devastation sound exciting".[14]
Writing in The Guardian, Alexis Petridis noted the album's "boldness, and the quality of its songwriting" as well as "the striking prettiness of its tunes", calling West End Girl "a divorce album like no other" which "would be a great pop album regardless of the subject matter".[2] However, Petridis added that "there are moments when you find yourself wondering if airing this much dirty laundry can possibly be a good idea, impeccably written and laced with mordant wit though the lyrics are".[2]
↑ Solomon-Brady, Harvey (20 October 2025). "Lily Allen: West End Girl". Why Now. UK. Retrieved 26 October 2025. The cover art and illustrations come from Spanish artist Nieves González.
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