Sheezus
2 May 2014
Parlophone
4 stars out of 5
Lily Allen’s third LP, Sheezus,
is a controversial and unbalanced affair. On one hand there’s the clever title
track, full of disses that mock the very idea of dissing, and on the other hand
there’s a third of the rest of the record, which is unfortunately closer to the
dull mire of It’s Not Me, It’s You
rather than to the jaw-dropping brilliance of Alright, Still. The record starts off strong with “Sheezus,” “L8
CMMR,” and the second single “Air Balloon,” but after that the party stutters
along in fits and starts. Still, the strengths of Sheezus far outweigh its weaknesses, and it finishes just as
strongly as it begins.
“Insincerely Yours” and “Silver Spoon” are successful
manifestations of character Allen created for the album: a superficial,
money-focused, boastful, vengeful, and ultimately unlikeable biotch. Basically,
she’s Kanye with a vajayjay. Let’s be clear: this is a character. But what if
it weren’t a character? Why does Mr. West get accolades for glorifying ego and
idiocy, while Ms. West gets nothing but backlash? Allen’s vajayjay is dripping
with irony, sarcasm, and a wit that could cut a diamond. She’s the Shakespeare
of chav, with lyrical skillz that make Kanye seem like he should go back to
repeat the third grade.
While Sheezus has
its filler (“Our Time,” tracks 6 to 8), the high points are so high that the
rather dull middle section of the record can be forgiven (or at least skipped
through on the way to the very rewarding “URL Badman” and onward). Not all of
the songs are in the Ms. West character, so it’s not a full-on concept album as
such, but the bookends of “Sheezus” and “Hard Out Here” present the subject
matter in a manifesto that calls out the hypocrisy of the music industry, the music
press, and society in general. “Always trust the injustice ‘cause it’s not
going away,” sings Allen on the closing track, and while the injustice isn’t
going away anytime soon, neither is Allen nor her need to fight it.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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