Lily Allen is lashing out at an unfaithful former partner on her scathing new album, “West End Girl,” out Oct. 24.
Following reports last year that the British singer, 40, had separated from “Stranger Things” star David Harbour, 50, People reported in February that the two had officially called it quits after four years of marriage.
Now, on “West End Girl,” her first album in more than seven years, Allen chronicles a relationship’s bitter breakdown caused by a partner’s cheating. Across 14 mostly downtempo tracks, Allen weaves together the story of a partner who led a “double life” and violated an “open” marriage code.
On the somber “Sleepwalking,” Allen’s protagonist describes being convinced by her partner that their problems are her fault.
“‘Why aren’t we f—–, baby?’ / Yeah, that’s what you said,” she sings. “But you let me think it was me in my head / And nothing to do with them girls in your bed.”
Allen is more forceful on the blistering “P—- Palace,” referring to the person who inspired the biting track as a “sex addict.” She describes finding a shopping bag filled with various “sex toys” that the man she is calling out used while he lived a “double life.”
The Grammy nominee doesn’t shy away from naming names in some cases. On “Tennis,” she describes how an ex nervously “grabbed” his phone back after showing her an Instagram photo.
“If it was just sex I wouldn’t be jealous,” she sings in the chorus, adding, “You won’t play with me and who the f— is Madeline?”
The mystery woman pops up again in a separate song Allen titles “Madeline.” She sings directly to her partner’s lover on the heartbreaking track, asking how long their affair has been happening. She explains to Madeline how her ex broke the rules of their “arrangement,” which 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 Harbour tied the knot in September 2020 at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, and he shared photos from their special day on Instagram. The two met the year prior on the celebrity dating app Raya, according to People.
Harbour was the stepfather of Allen’s two daughters, Ethel Mary, who turns 14 in November, and Marnie Rose, 12. Allen shares both children with ex-husband Sam Cooper.
In January 2025, without naming Harbour, Allen revealed on her BBC podcast “Miss Me?” that she was trying “to be present” for her daughters despite “spiraling” while going through a “tough 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 telling them we’re going to get through it and be fine,” she said.
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
