Lily Allen goes unfiltered as she reflects on her new album West End Girl

Lily Allen describes West End Girl as an angry album fueled by rage.

Lily, 40, recently reflected on the emotional intensity behind her fifth studio album, West End Girl, in a new interview with ELLE UK for its March cover story.

“I don’t think that it’s a particularly self-aware record,” Allen told the magazine. “It’s a lot more about rage directed towards other people. It’s not really about self-reflection.” 

She shared that the album was created during a challenging and traumatic period in her life, which made her use music as a tool to process her emotions.

“I think that if I’ve learnt anything about myself from it, it’s that rage is powerful and necessary, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing to express,” Allen explained. “In fact, repressed rage is arguably more damaging.”

West End Girl comes nearly two and a half years after her split from actor David Harbour, as the exes announced their separation in August 2023. Allen also acknowledged the positive reception from fans, saying, “I don’t know if it’s great for the soul, but it’s good for the ego.”

She also shared the anxiety that came with releasing such a personal record. “When I wrote this album, I spent about eight months being absolutely terrified of what was gonna come back to me,” Allen said.