Lily Allen - 'Alright, Still' (Regal) Released 17/07/06

It is difficult not to feel sceptical on hearing that someone is tipped as ‘the female Mike Skinner’. Thankfully, aside from a gift for similarly spot-on social commentary, Lily Allen has little for which to credit the Birmingham lad and is quite clearly not just launching a ‘anything you can do, we can do better’ gender battle. The directness of her self-penned lyrics clashes happily with the honeyed sweetness of her voice, and despite being bent on belittling those who try to mess her about, is surprisingly endearing.

With ‘Alright, Still’ this Mockney-mouthed young lady leads us on a comprehensive tour of our own lives, from the infuriating queues at nightclubs on the reggae-ish ‘Friday Night’ ("It’s quarter past eleven now and we won’t get in til quarter to") to the awkward sleaziness of a night on the pull through ‘Knock ‘Em Out ("..and no you can’t have my number, because I lost my phone. Can’t knock ‘em out, can’t walk away, desperately try to think of the politest thing to say.")

Superficially sunny-sounding first single ‘LDN’ deals with the downside of city life and the need for forced positivity ("The sun is in the sky, why would I want to be anywhere else? But when you look with your eyes…"). Downright derogatory but hilariously blunt ‘Not Big’ (no prizes for guessing what that one’s about) makes it into the female consciousness as the ultimate revenge anthem, but even at her most cruel Lily retains her quick-witted cool. Then, just when you thought that Lily had it in for everyone, she reveals her softer side on ‘Littlest Things’, an actually quite touching break-up tune that will strike a chord with anyone who has obsessed over an ex – "I remember when you started calling me your missus, all the play fighting, all the flirtatious disses."

In a world where who you know is far more relevant than any personal attribute, it wouldn’t be entirely unfair to assume that being actor Keith Allen’s little girl has helped Lily along on her path to fame. But it is only necessary to listen to this debut for five minutes to see that Lily is not one to passively accept her position in any situation. Equipped with a voice to match both the Latino-pop quirkiness of Nelly Furtado and the sugary catchiness of Corinne Bailey Rae, Lily Allen merges jazz, R&B and indie to create a sound that could appeal to everybody and yet still dares to push society’s boundaries to their limits.

Simple yet hard-hitting, Ms Allen knows how to make her point without forcing it down our throats. Especially suitable for jiggling to on the dance-floor or behind the steering wheel, ‘Alright, Still’ may well be this summer’s record of choice. As the girl said herself, every song on the album is a potential single. This time, it is clever to believe the hype; guaranteed, you won’t be disappointed.