Album of the Year: Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’

If success is the best revenge, Lily Allen’s West End Girl achieved both in 2025, while reinventing what an album about heartbreak could be. 

Its unique narrative structure, biting lyricism, and shameless vulnerability was a reintroduction to Allen’s musical gifts, which longtime fans have admired since her 2006 hits “Smile” and “LDN.” But it was also a subversive exercise in speaking one’s truth after betrayal and, most impactfully, processing personal pain in a public forum. 

A lot of us related, and the more we listened to its bittersweet laments, the more we loved it. And it provided a wild ride and provocative peek inside a rocky celebrity marriage, a reminder that despite the glamorous red carpets and picture-perfect homes, famous people struggle like the rest of us. 

Infectious hooks elevate this scalding collection of songs, helping it resonate intensely, especially with women. Allen’s breakup with “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour is laid out with vivid zeal, intentionally cringey at times, but always compelling. In the social media era, where many men proudly self-identify as players, and monogamy is no longer the universal goal, Harbour’s sex addict ways as portrayed by his ex-wife on the album’s most popular track on Spotify, “Pussy Palace,” feel woefully emblematic of relationship dynamics right now. 

On the title track, which opens the record, Allen calls out her husband’s lack of support professionally and his desire to open up their marriage to others while she‘s away from home acting in a London play. It moves seamlessly into a reflective—and restless—mode by track two, “Ruminating,” and finally, full-on realization by track three,in “Sleepwalking.” (Who said romance isn’t dead? / Been no romance since we wed / “Why aren’t we fucking, baby?” / Yeah, that’s what you said / but you let me think it was me in my head / And nothing to do with them girls in your bed). 

It’s bold and bawdy stuff. But these songs feel less about dirt than discerning feelings, dealing with the anger and confusion of a cheating spouse. Allen agreed to the open marriage, but he broke the rules.

She seemingly holds nothing back as she works everything out in her head, aided by the perspective of time. She has special ire for “Madeline,” Harbour’s lover, mocking her with a wonderfully cheesy voiceover that feels like the letter read from Eminem’s “Stan,” only more disingenuous. Then things get realer as she follows up the epic other woman track with a gentle sounding yet foreboding confessional, “Relapse,” which warns of a potential rock bottom ahead. 

The woman scorned cliche has been used on equally ferocious, if more figurative, records, from Beyoncé’s Lemonade to Taylor Swift’s Red. But West End Girl, made in just 10 days, feels less calculated, like a chronological oration of unedited journal entries set to disparate melodies and beats. 

Its second half’s standout tracks, including “4chan Stan” and “Dallas Major,” dig in deeper still, spewing more details and juxtaposing nasty moments with catchy choruses. The latter in particular feels achingly personal. Anyone on dating apps will understand Lily’s apprehension and attempts at anonymity as she searches for distractions post-breakup—especially those famous enough to make it onto Raya, where the singer is said to have met Harbour. 

So I go by Dallas Major but that’s not really my name / You know I used to be quite famous, that was way back in the day / Yes, I’m here for validation and I probably should explain / How my marriage has been open since my husband went astray / And I hate it here / I hate it…

Released October 24, West End Girl had everyone buzzing about its raw and sexy subject matter from day one. But it’s proving to be more than a novelty. It’s the underdog album of the year, popping with ironically fun sing-alongs that grow on you with each listen. It will continue to influence the zeitgeist with its self-awareness and inventive production. 

By coincidence, the fifth and final season of “Stranger Things”’ debuted exactly a month after the album dropped. While Harbour hasn’t spoken about the album, his career doesn’t seem to be harmed by it, though it remains to be seen what happens moving forward. It is hard to listen to the record and not think about the burly actor as its menacing muse.

Lily has been earning accolades for the record’s honesty and innovation. Her recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance, which featured Dakota Johnson as Madeline, was marvelously meta, just like the record itself. After sharing her misery and loss, it’s inspiring to see the West End girl and her music triumph, and make everything she’s shared worth it.