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Reviews Pop
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Sunday, 02 July 2006 |
 So everyone knows about Lily Allen, right? Good – and who have we got to thank? That’s right, Mr. internet once again rears his ugly head, with Ms. Allen blogging her way to fame. But is ‘Smile’ another Nizlopi-esque internet horror is disguise, or a Myspace success story of Artic Monkey proportions?
The first thing to note is that this is not the ‘pop’ music that the world seems to think it is. Yeah, it doesn’t use a grumbling Indie guitar line and aloof attitude to suit; it doesn’t have a two step grimey UK Hip Hop drum beat, and isn’t preoccupied with guns; so it must be pop then? No. Firstly, no pop song can feature the line ‘you were fucking that girl next door’ within the first thirty seconds. Fact. S Club Juniors are pop music. They don’t say fuck.
But secondly, and more importantly, the bouncy ska based bassline, horns and guitar are about as far from pop music as Lemmy from Motorhead singing on a Public Enemy song. Well not quite, but demoting this cheerfully bubbly, wonderfully complex music to the bland, all-encompassing title of pop severely detracts from its imagination and flair. The soft reggae beats are reminiscent of the brilliant Althea and Donna, a relaxed mood that is heightened by some lovely swirly organs that wouldn’t be out of place on a Jimmy Cliff record.
The lyrics focus around a rather messy break-up with a cheating boyfriend, and delivered in Allen’s ‘coarse as sandpaper’ London tones, the track is a cathartic explosion of ‘getting over it’ bile that couldn’t be sweeter. Allen’s singing voice certainly isn’t great, but this vocal amateurish simplicity just lends itself perfectly to the everyman story Lily is telling.
Although this clearly is not a classic for the ages (in fact, probably a distant memory post-festival season) ‘Smile’ is a bit of fun that will have you humming along merrily.
Rating: 3.5/5
Release Date: 3rd July 2006Label:
RegalInfo: www.lilyallenmusic.com
Words by: Thom Gulseven
User reviews
Average user rating from: 1 user(s)
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Overall rating
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3.8 |
| Originality
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4.0 |
| Lyrics
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4.0 |
| Memorability
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3.0 |
| Melody
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4.0 |
| Production Quality |
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4.0 |
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Lily Allen Smile, Thursday, 03 August 2006 Written by Saz
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Overall rating
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3.8 |
| Originality
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4.0 |
| Lyrics
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4.0 |
| Memorability
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3.0 |
| Melody
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4.0 |
| Production Quality |
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4.0 |
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