Lily Allen lashes out at her cheating ex in her new album West End Girl, out October 24.
Following reports last year that the 40-year-old British singer had split from Stranger Things star David Harbour, 50, People In February, it was reported that they had officially announced their separation after four years of marriage.
Now, on West End Girl, her first album in more than seven years, Allen opens up about a bitter breakup caused by her partner's betrayal. Across 14 mostly slow tracks, Allen weaves together the story of a partner who led a “double life” and violated the “open” marriage code.
In the dark “Sleepwalking,” Allen's protagonist describes how her partner convinced her that she was to blame for their problems.
“Why don't we fuck, baby?” / Yeah, you said so,” she sings. “But you let me think it was me in my head / And nothing to do with those girls in your bed.”
Allen is more assertive on the vibrant “P—- Palace,” calling the man who inspired the edgy track a “sex addict.” She describes finding a shopping bag filled with various “sex toys” used by the man she calls while he was leading a “double life.”
The Grammy nominee doesn't shy away from naming names on some occasions. In “Tennis,” she describes how her ex nervously “grabbed” his phone after showing her a photo on Instagram.
“If it was just sex, I wouldn't be jealous,” she sings on the chorus, adding, “You won't play with me, and who the hell is Madeline?”
The mystery woman appears again in a separate song, which Allen calls “Madeline”. In the heartbreaking track, she sings directly to her partner's lover, asking how long their romance has lasted. She explains to Madeline how her ex broke the rules of their “arrangement” that allowed him to sleep with other partners as long as he paid for the sex and the women were “strangers.”
“But you’re not a stranger, Madeline,” she sings.
Allen and Harbor tied the knot in September 2020 at Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas and he shared photos from their special day on Instagram. The two said they met a year earlier on celebrity dating app Raya. People.
Harbor was Allen's stepfather. two daughtersEthel Mary, who will be 14 in November, and Marnie Rose, 12. Allen shares both children with ex-husband Sam Cooper.
In January 2025, without naming Harbor, Allen spoke on her BBC podcast “Miss me?“that she was trying to be 'present' with her daughters despite the 'escalation' while going through a 'difficult period.'
“We are a support network for each other and encourage each other to talk about our feelings, but I think the main thing is to tell them that we will get through this and everything will be okay,” she said.
