Lily Allen has announced her return to music with her first album in seven years, West End Girl.
The 40-year-old singer’s fifth record will detail her move to New York with her now ex-husband David Harbour in 2020. It was recorded over “an intense 10-day period” following their split in December 2024.
Allen, who produced the 14-track album alongside Seb Chew, Kito and Blue May, has said she’s “nervous” to release the “vulnerable” collection of songs to the world this Friday, 24 October.
“The record is vulnerable in a way that my music perhaps hasn’t been before – certainly not over the course of a whole album,” she reflected in a statement announcing the record’s forthcoming release.
Allen said she intended to document her life in a new city “and the events that led me to where I am in my life now” on the new album, as well as explore “why we humans behave as we do”.
She explained: “So the record is a mixture of fact and fiction which I hope serves as a reminder of how stoic yet also how frail we humans can be.”
“In that respect I think it’s very much an album about the complexities of relationships and how we all navigate them. It’s a story,” the singer teased.
Allen married Stranger Things actor Harbour in 2019 after meeting on Raya, an exclusive dating app popular among celebrities and other high-profile figures.
She revealed earlier this week that she entered a treatment facility following their separation last year as she struggled with intense feelings of despair and almost relapsed after six years of sobriety.
The singer told British Vogue that she “wanted to die” but “feels OK” now after finding a sponsor and going to daily meetings on top of medication, therapy and antidepressants.
Allen previously announced she was stepping away from music following the release of her 2018 Mercury-nominated album No Shame and the publication of her candid memoir My Thoughts Exactly.
The star subsequently moved into acting, starring in the West End show 2:22 A Ghost Story and Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, as well as an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s classic play Hedda Gabler.
She also became the co-host of the award-winning podcast Miss Me? with presenter Miquita Oliver, on which she first shared she was “really not in a good place” following her split from Harbour.
Allen first rose to fame following the release of her debut album Alright, Still in 2006, which peaked at number two in the UK charts and contained hits including “LDN” and “Smile”.
Pink Floyd star David Gilmour says ‘no possible way’ for Roger Waters reunion
Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers dies, aged 48
Mick Jagger and Janet Jackson lead guests at London’s answer to the Met Gala
Kylie Jenner says she’s not ‘Adele or anything’ as she launches music career
Reneé Rapp blasts ICE and Donald Trump in rant while performing in Oregon
Keith Urban forced to cancel concert over health issue amid Nicole Kidman divorce
