Some days are easier than others, this past week has been the easiest so far.
Michael and I are in hell trying to to find something in the music world that we can really obsess over for more than a few weeks. I spent nearly three months all about the Strokes, replaced them with Nerina Pallot, then Sia, and lately have been listening to the same two tracks by Mylene Farmer and Lorie (I know, I know, I know) and otherwise have been memorizing Paul Desmond solos. And then I finally got my hands on this one. The first time I heard Lily Allen I nearly died, back in 2006 on MySpace, I couldn’t believe anything could be so wonderful. I got over it, I can’t even remember her first singles anymore…but I know they got tiresome, predictable, a little empty. Not this.
First, I’m a big fan of Bird and the Bee, but Lily Allen has something honest about her that is generally unheard of, because her idea of romance is about as real as it gets. Love isn’t really much more than television, boring conversations, traffic jams, shitty food, napping alone… but it’s kinda wonderful. Half the songs on this album don’t do it for me, the lyrics are the same as on the first album, the tunes don’t seem to have much love put into them. The other half are some of the most brilliant, optimistic, beautiful things I’ve ever known. And her voice, her voice has matured, it has such nuance, even in a single line she evokes so much of what I believe in. She helps me to believe in love.
And today I need it.
arts & fetters 