It's Not Me, It's You

Untitled

It's Not Me, It's You is the second studio album by British pop singer-songwriter Lily Allen. The album is expected to be released in the United Kingdom on February 9, 2009, and on February 10 in North America.

Background

In April 2008, Allen announced that she was moving in a "new direction" on her upcoming record.

Allen recorded most of the album at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Kurstin of the band The Bird and the Bee. Of the songwriting process, she said "Greg builds the chords up and I just sing along and make up the words and then once you've got the bare song, we decide which way we're gonna go with the production."

MySpace demos

Prior to the album's release, Allen posted a number of demos on her MySpace page. The first two to appear were "I Could Say" and "I Don't Know", the latter of which was retitled and released as the album's lead single, "The Fear". Based on the first two demos, Digital Spy described her new artistic direction as more mature, more reflective and more electronic.

A third, politically charged clip was later posted, with the titles "Guess Who Batman" and later "Get Wit the Brogram", finally appearing as "GWB". Despite both working titles sharing initials with George W. Bush, Allen wrote that "this song is not a direct attack at anyone, it was originally written about the BNP in the UK but then I felt this issue has become relevant pretty much everywhere, we are the youth, we can make coolness for our future, its up to us. Go green and hate hate". The song was retitled "F**k You" for the album version.

Allen posted a fourth song on her MySpace page called "Who'd of Known", noting that the song had been recorded for the album but would not be included due to legal issues since the chorus is musically similar to the Take That song "Shine". However, Take That later did allow Allen to include the song on the album (now titled "Who'd Have Known").

On the 2nd February, Lily posted all 12 tracks from her album to listen to on her MySpace profile page.

The album is not to be confused with the 2003 record of the same name by London band The Free French.

Release

In May 2008, Allen told The Sunday Mirror that the album was nearly finished. Allen said of the album "I've worked so hard. My next album is nearly finished. I'm on a two-week break and then I'm starting a massive promotional tour."

In August 2008, Allen blamed the delay in the album's release on her record label EMI/Parlophone. On September 15, it was announced via her MySpace blog that the album will be released on February 9, 2009.

In July 2008, the working title of the album was confirmed as Stuck on the Naughty Step. On October 7 at the BMI Awards, Allen announced that the album title had been changed to It's Not Me, It's You, due to the fact that she "lived with [the original title] for too long" and got bored of the original title.

On October 29 Allen announced the album will be released in the United States release date on February 10, 2009. The track listings were also released. She described the sound as bigger and a more ethereal sound. She noted she has grown as a person and feels the album will have some sort of integrity.

On 19 December, a 12 track promotional samplers were sent out to various blogs and online stores, to review ahead of the albums release.

On 20 December, British newspaper The Sun gave away a free 7 track album mini-mix, as part of the ongoing promotion schedule by EMI. The mini-mix included "Everyone's At It" and "The Fear", as well as 4 previously unheard studio versions of "Not Fair", "22", "Never Gonna Happen" and "F**k You".

On December 23, music magazine NME have confirmed that the exclusive first play of the album will be available days before its physical release on their website.

According to the UK iTunes Online Store, the album will be digitally released on 8 February, 2009.

On the iTunes Australian Store, the album was released on February 6, and the same day reached number one on iTunes top 100 downloaded albums.

Critical response

It's Not Me, It's You has been met with good reviews from critics. Reviewing for The Observer, Garry Mulholland awarded the album five out of five, calling this a "wonderful record," and added that it is "a pop album brave enough to have a go at defining the times." Clash concluded: "Britain’s mouthy pop idol returns triumphantly and with the brawny guts to stick with what she knows best", after commenting that Allen "probably has enough personal ammunition to fuel a ten-year career of brutally autobiographical albums".

The album was favourably reviewed by The Telegraph, Neil McCormick praised her more personal songs on the album; "It is when she turns her sharp tongue to her own affairs of the heart that Allen's growing adventurousness and lyrical confidence really pay off....But in particular Who'd Have Known is a tender evocation of friendship turning to love, in which the detail is telling and Allen's vocal performance positively glows with easy affection. On such songs, Allen still sounds like a real person telling us the most intimate details of her real life, only with better hooks." McCormick also praised the lead single, as "superb" and "an ironic declaration of celebrity superficiality set to a pulsing, sleekly modern electro dance backing."

Tour

On 28 January 2009, Allen will play a one-off exclusive intimate sold-out gig at Koko, London, ahead of the album's release. Days after the release of tickets for KOKO, Allen announced a extensive European tour, starting in Glasgow on 14th March, and ending on 8 May. In an interview published in NME's Christmas edition, Allen stated this would be the only European tour she would embark on for the album promotion. Allen confirmed in January's issue of Billboard magazine that her US tour would in fact be 20 dates, commencing April 1st.

On 8 January 2009 Allen announced yet another exclusive gig at Gloucester Guildhall to take place on 26 January 2009, coinciding with the single release of "The Fear" and intended specifically for the residents of the Gloucestershire county, with ticketholders needing to provide proof of address for purchase. Tickets for this event also sold out within the hour.

To support the album further Allen will hold 32 concerts across Europe and North America, the tour will start in Glasgow (March 14th) and end in Belgium (May 8th). All tour dates were announced via Allen's Myspace Blog and website.

Singles

• "The Fear": Allen stated on her official website that The Fear was the chosen song for the lead single. The song had its radio premiere via on The Scott Mills Show on December 1, 2008. The song's official music video had its premiere on December 4 at Channel 4, but it was leaked before the official release date, it was uploaded on YouTube 2 hours before the official premiere. It had 200 views before the premiere. Although Parlophone's official YouTube account uploaded it on December 3. It was released on European iTunes on December 4 and at the United States iTunes, the song later became Lily's second number 1 in the UK, climbing a massive 167 places to the top spot.

Other songs

• "Everyone's At It": The song was rumored to be the lead single from the album. The song was not released as a single, the song The Fear was released instead, but the song received considerate attention by airing on YouTube. The music video was in production in November 2008 (Lily posted a photo from shooting on a MySpace blog) but is rumoured to have been postponed for "The Fear".This song is currently charting on the Australian iTunes at #73.

• "Womanizer (Britney Spears cover)": On December 13, 2008 Allen revealed a cover of Britney Spears' hit single, "Womanizer". When asked Allen stated Spears was a "goddess" and that her new album is "amazing". Lily said about the cover song "We did it for fun with the guys (producers) in the studio, it was really great and fun." It can be heard on Parlophone's official YouTube channel.

• "F**k You": Although not being released as a single, the track handled it to peak at number 12 on the Czech Airplay Chart and 198 in European Charts, under the demo name "Guess Who Batman".. It has also begun to chart on Japan's iTunes Pop and Australia's iTunes charts as F**k You.

International Versions

• "Everyone's At It"": The Japanese version of 'It's Not Me, It's You' features a different version to the opening track "Everyone's At It". In the final instrumental section before the closing of the track, a new mix features, with new sound effects and beat, compared to the UK's version of a continuous beat.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Everyone's at It"	4:19
2.	"The Fear"	3:27
3.	"Not Fair"	3:21
4.	"22"	3:05
5.	"I Could Say"	4:03
6.	"Back to the Start"	4:11
7.	"Never Gonna Happen"	3:26
8.	"F**k You"	3:35
9.	"Who'd Have Known"	3:48
10.	"Chinese"	3:27
11.	"Him"	3:15
12.	"He Wasn't There"	2:52

Bonus tracks

Japan edition

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Kabul S**t"	3:45
14.	"F** Hag"	2:57
15.	"The Fear" (enhanced music video)

US & iTunes edition

No.	Title	Length
13.	"The Fear (acoustic)" (US bonus track)	3:26
14.	"He Wasn't There (acoustic)" (US pre-order only bonus track)	2:50
15.	"Who'd Have Known (acoustic)" (US pre-order only bonus track)	3:49

Release history

Country	Date
Japan	February 4, 2009 (2009-02-04)
Ireland	February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06)
Germany
Italy
Australia	February 7, 2009 (2009-02-07)
United Kingdom (Digital)	February 8, 2009 (2009-02-08)
United Kingdom (Physical)	February 9, 2009 (2009-02-09)
France
Netherlands
United States	February 10, 2009 (2009-02-10)
Canada
Finland	February 11, 2009 (2009-02-11)
Brazil	February 16, 2009 (2009-02-16)