Lily Allen!

OMG. I'm grinning stupidly. I love her album, Alright Still. I love it so much I'm actually thinking of buying the CD. Imagine that. All that adsl2+ bandwidth and this album's good enough to make me pay for it? Hot damn.

I was pretty sure I would looove the new Pharrell album, but it kinda fell flat. But with this one - love at first listen, baby!

NOTE: I wrote this at around 3am, and my English composition skillz are not as 1337 as they should be, and all these are first impressions anyway. I might be more coherent in a future attempt at a review.

Funny how Smile has already made its way onto TV, via the Just Jeans commercial, when it's only started climbing the charts. I guess the marketing department's learned the lessons of Moby - saturate the ether, by any means necessary! Not that this addictive stew of reggae, dancehall, funk, ska, girl group pop would have any trouble making its mark.

Knock Em Out is like a Streets-y successor to TLC's No Scrubs. How English - to actually be taking the trouble to find a polite way to say, "Just get out my face/ just leave me alone/ oh no you can't have my number/ cos I lost my phone". Possible next single?

Everything is wonderful in Everything's Just Wonderful. That 60s sounding beat. (papap-PAP, papap-PAP!) Handclaps! Farfisa! (or whatever makes that carnival-sounding organ sound). Harmonies. The heady chorus "Oh yeah, just fine/ everything's just wonderful/ I'm having the time of my life" contrasts with verses like "I wanna be able to eat spaghetti bolognaise/ and not feel bad about it for days and days and days/ all the magazines they talk about weight loss/ if i buy those jeans i can look like kate moss" This also gets a vote as the next single. The swearing might be an issue with radio though.

Not Big is one of the most hummable diss songs. Reminds me of that 90s song Short Dick Man, but clever. Telling your ex he's rubbish in bed and you'll making your way through his mates, and tell them that he's "small in the game". Damn, that's harsh. But you still end up singing it, even if you're a guy.

Shame For You reminds me of Dawn Penn's "No No No (You Don't Love Me)". There's a mashup out there, waiting to be made! Or maybe Lily's already made one.

Littlest Things takes the Karma Police intro, sends it through a harpsichord, then gets a bit Dido. But a bit more melody.

Take What You Take sounds like an indie-rock, girl power anthem - Spice Girls go back to '89 and hook up with the Stone Roses.

Alfie reminds me of The Beatles' "Obladi-Oblada". In a good way. =) Song to a younger brother wasted and smoking pot and pulling her hair. Unexpected closing song. Heck, it's all unexpected anyway.

Just emailed my friend MA to ask if she wants to check out Lily at her (only) Sydney gig at Club 77 in Sydney, on Thursday, 10 August. Hope a proper tour comes soon!

It's the melodies that hook you in. Reminds me of those old Beatle's albums where practicallly every song sounds like it was made as a single. No meandering, noodly, wanky, time-wasting, spinach art (it's good for you!). Hooks, melodies, and more hooks. My favourite album, probably for the rest of the year.