Lily Allen - 'It's Not Me, It's You' (EMI) Released 09/02/09

No matter how hard she tries, Lily Allen can't stop portraying herself as a rather unwilling pop star. During one recent profile to promote her new album, she spoke fondly about the independent manner in which she launched her career two and a half years ago, only to describe herself moments later as an "awful" performer who had "blagged" her ascent into the public's consciousness.

This is no isolated assertion either. Study the course of Allen's career since the release of her debut album 'Alright, Still' in 2006 and, after a promising start, you'll find its littered with further evidence of disinclination. There was an attempt last year to launch a TV career; a one-off collaboration with New Look on a summer fashion line inspired by her bohemian chic; a bizarre alliance with London Mayor Boris Johnson over teenage knife crime; and, on more than one occasion, a wild threat to quit music altogether and move to the country in order to start a family, and, one assumes, to start afresh as well.

There is, of course, a simple explanation for all of this: tabloid notoriety. The 21-year-old Lily Allen who, thanks to the carefree fancy of her debut album, was touted as the torchbearer for British music, is now a 23-year-old who's noticeably more cautious, both in public and on record. 'It's Not Me, It's You' is riddled with tales of a life lived through the lens of a photographer. "I look at The Sun and I look in The Mirror, we're on the right track, yeah we're onto a winner," she sings, for example, on 'The Fear', before explaining how she's no longer able to distinguish between "what's right or what's real any more".

If that line reads as if Allen is bearing her soul then that's because, on the majority of 'It's Not Me, It's You', that's exactly what she does. Gone are the picturesque visions of LDN skies and teeth white smiles of 'Alright, Still', replaced instead with dark anecdotes about peoples' dependence on drugs ('Everybody's At It') and sorry tales of wasted lives; "It's Sad but it's true how society says her life if already over," Allen sings, mournfully, on '22'. There are even three songs aimed squarely at family members: 'Back To The Start' is an earnest message to her elder sister, 'Chinese' sees her seek the comfort of her mother, and, on 'He Wasn't There', Allen details her reconciliation with her father, comedian Keith Allen.