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10.0
142937
10.0 |
The Independent
British pop star returns with her best album in 16 years, an incisive diary of a marriage in freefall
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10.0
142974
10.0 |
musicOMH
This extraordinary comeback record belongs in the long list of great break-up albums, but it’s also one of the best pop albums of the year
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9.0
143067
9.0 |
Under The Radar
This is a must-hear album, even if you are unfamiliar with her previous work, as it’s clearly one of the year’s very best
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8.5
142993
8.5 |
Beats Per Minute
It’s an album of pure desolation and loss, walking a tightrope between suffocation and gasps for air
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8.0
142983
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
The eclectic U.K. artist takes a brutal emotional inventory on West End Girl
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8.0
142989
8.0 |
Exclaim
All in all, the brilliance of West End Girl lies in its lack of pretension, and the fact that its room feels mostly cleared of committee
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8.0
142981
8.0 |
The Quietus
For the listener, its rawness can feel akin to ambulance chasing or scrolling the sidebar of shame. But in the fishbowl of fame that Allen has existed in since ‘Smile’ came out in 2006, it’s also a massive eff you to the prurient media class
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8.0
142938
8.0 |
The Guardian
Allen’s first album in seven years traces the fallout from an open relationship, but as well as being cathartic and candid, these stylistically varied songs have melodies that sparkle
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8.0
142939
8.0 |
Evening Standard
A searing takedown of a dying relationship that reminds us all how confessional pop is done best: with actual confessions
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8.0
142950
8.0 |
NME
A vicious, vulnerable and victorious comeback
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8.0
142957
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
West End Girl is not only an example of pop brilliance, but also incredibly vulnerable, raw and honest, true to Allen’s form. Simply, the pop pioneer has created the break-up album for the modern generation
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8.0
142959
8.0 |
Clash
A hard-hitting pop exposition, it frequently feels daring, while also providing an endless supply of hooks. ‘West End Girl’ finds Lily Allen at the centre of a romantic implosion, making imposing shapes out of the rubble
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7.3
142975
7.3 |
Pitchfork
With an album that doubles as an insider’s account of a tabloid divorce, the singer finds a new evolution of her signature style: Lightness isn’t a foil for irony, but a vehicle for hurt
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6.0
142982
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
The singer’s first album in seven years is titillating but ultimately less than revelatory
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6.0
142985
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
It feels like something she needed to do, an urgent project to heal her psyche
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6.0
143006
6.0 |
The Irish Times
Songs are grim portraits of living through disaster but a pop album is not the most suitable conduit for such heavy emotions
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