Lily Allen - Sheezus

I really haven't been too keen on Lily Allen's recent string of singles.  Don't get me wrong, I think her first two albums are fantastic, but the new material just missed the mark.  It's hard to be enthusiastic about an artist's new song when the artist herself admits that the track is rubbish.  With that said, Lily's new single, "Sheezus", is very interesting.

The chorus is a bizarre name dropping moment that actually had me saying, "Whaaaaaat, no way!" the first time I heard it.  Rihanna, Katy Perry, Beyoncé, Lorde, and Gaga are all mentioned, but it's not a diss track.  The entire thing is pretty ridiculous, yet it actually has me anticipating the full album.  Check out the equally intriguing music video, featuring what looks like some M.I.A. inspired art direction, below.

Sheezus is out in the US on May 6.  You can pre-order a copy here.

Lily Allen - Hard Out Here

In case you haven't heard, Lily Allen is back.  She just released her first new single since 2009's It's Not Me, It's You, and that was quite the album. Well, technically she was featured on that ear bleeder T-Pain track and then credited as Lily Rose Cooper on P!nk's "True Love", but those didn't exactly showcase the Lily "Fuck You" Allen that we all know.  Remember when she momentarily dropped the Allen?  Good times.

"Hard Out Here", a proper comeback single about the woes of image and sexism in the music industry, is overflowing with Lily's snarky attitude.  It obviously had to be released alongside a video that contains just as much commentary.  To sum it all up in one line from the single, "If you can't detect the sarcasm, you've misunderstood."

Now the music itself is interesting in multiple ways.  Lyrically, and based on the general public's reaction, she hit the target and succeeded at exactly what she intended to do.  But the production and actual song as a whole is riddled with "satire" auto-tune, the type of stuff that belongs on the previously mentioned T-Pain ear bleeders.  Not to mention the post-chorus consisting of "a bitch, a bitch, a bitch, bitch bitch".  It all works in context, but I wonder how it'll sound once it's on the tracklisting of her upcoming album.  It's not exactly a sing-along.  Check it out and see for yourself...