Singer-songwriter Lily Allen is back, and her first album in seven years is anything but safe. West End Girl , out on 24 October 2025 via BMG, doesn’t just mark a musical return; it delves into the messy fallout of her marriage to David Harbour (yes, Stranger Things’ David Harbour) and the emotional upheaval that followed.



The comeback album: Seven years, 14 tracks, a full autobiography



Allen’s fifth studio album, West End Girl, arrives on 24 October after a seven-year gap since 2018’s No Shame. The record features 14 songs, written alongside her musical director Blue May and executive produced by May, Seb Chew and Kito.




Allen describes the album as her most “vulnerable” work to date, “a mixture of fact and fiction” exploring city life, heartbreak, fame and growing up. She revealed that most of the songs were written in December 2024 and completed early in 2025, during the period when her marriage to Harbour was breaking down.



More than just lyrics



Allen and David Harbour married in 2020 in Las Vegas. However, following rumours of infidelity, they split in early 2025. In her interview with British Vogue, Allen confessed that the album was influenced by the “unravelling” of her marriage amid alleged infidelity on his part.



Two tracks from the album have drawn particular attention:



“Sleepwalking” features the lyric: “You let me think it was me in my head / And nothing to do with them girls in your bed.”




“Dallas Major” includes: “You know I used to be quite famous, that was way back in the day / I probably should explain how my marriage has been open since my husband went astray.”



Allen emphasises: “There are things on the record that I experienced within my marriage, but that’s not to say it’s all gospel … It is inspired by what went on in that relationship.”



Meanwhile, Harbour has remained largely silent. In conversation with GQ back in April, he said: “There’s no use in that form of engaging [with tabloid news] because it’s all based on hysterical hyperbole.”




Allen’s return isn’t just musical. She has spoken openly about the emotional and mental toll of her divorce, describing a period of near relapse: “The feelings of despair … were so strong ... I’ve had real problems with my food over the past few years … it got really, really, really bad.”



She checked herself into a residential facility, admitting: “I knew that the things I was feeling were too extreme … and I was like, ‘I need some time away.’”



It’s easy to interpret Lily Allen’s lyrics in context, but what’s clear is that she holds nothing back in West End Girl, a record deeply inspired by her own life experiences.