Lily Allen

I'm never one to despair at the current state of music and bemoan the insipid paper-thin constructions that masquerade as contemporary pop stars, because I am too damn optimistic. If I need to hear good music, I make my own, and anyway, very little of the sounds I listen to these days are in the charts. London is constantly buzzing with a rich and vibrant underground music mix, and the best tunes will never be broadcast. But for the first time in more than ten years, someone has kept a hold on the Number One chart position who I can recommend wholeheartedly to everyone who has ears. In fact - why be prejudiced against deaf people? They deserve this music too.

Lily Allen - daughter of actor Keith Allen and producer Alison Owen - has produced a debut album which soars high above the skies of Islington. She has a timeless observational humour, rhymes which I have been waiting for since Ian Dury died, and above all else the kind of originality you don't get anymore. Except, here she is right on my doorstep, doing a natty two-step.

The album Alright, Still is a winning combination of pathos, wit, melody, underpinned by the easiest dance beats in the world, faithful to early ska, but minted in the now. All the tracks I have heard are simply brilliant, but the one I most love right now is the ode penned to her little brother Alfie, berating him for spending too much time smoking weed. These are the words of a concerned big sister:

"Oh little brother please refrain from doing that,
I'm trying to help you out so can you stop being a twat,
It's time that you and I sat down and had a little chat,
And look me in the eyes take off that stupid fitted cap..."

Here's a Miranda Sawyer Observer article about Lily from May, here is Lily's self-constructed MySpace site - you've missed the entire album, which is released today but there are some good tracks to hear still. Search out "Nan, You're A Window Shopper" which is hilarious.

Thank the God Of Music for her shameless wit, her natural profanity, the truth, and for melodies you can sing after one listen. I get the impression that this may be the tip of her creative iceberg, and if so I sincerely hope Lily makes ten more of these albums. If she does, I will be a very very happy man.

Buy her record and improve your life!