One of the songwriters who helped Lily Allen create West End Girl has opened up on the process of making the album behind-the-scenes, admitting that writing about the singer’s real life experiences was ‘painful’ and ‘intense’.
Lily, 40, recorded the semi-autobiographical LP with a small team in Los Angeles over 16 days last year, detailing her ex-husband David Harbour’s affair and their subsequent split.
In a new interview with Grazia, Violet Skies – one of the producers who worked on the album – described the writing process, calling it a ‘fever dream’ and insisting that the raw and detailed lyrics were ‘very real’.
Since the album was released, there’s been massive speculation about how many of the brutal lyrics are an accurate representation of the marriage breakdown.
Lily has described it as based on both fact and fiction, saying: ‘I don’t think I could say it’s all true – I have artistic licence… But yes, there are definitely things I experienced within my relationship that have ended up on this album.’
She also confirmed that Madeline – who is the woman having an affair with her husband in a couple of the songs – is a concoction of real life people.
One of the songwriters who helped Lily Allen create West End Girl has opened up on the process of making the album behind-the-scenes, admitting that writing about the singer’s real life experiences was ‘painful’ and ‘intense’
Lily, 40, recorded the semi-autobiographical LP with a small team in Los Angeles over 16 days last year, detailing her ex-husband David Harbour’s affair and their subsequent split (seen in 2023)
But describing the process of making the record, Violet insisted that although ‘elaborated in some ways’, the story ‘is real’, which she said made it easier for the writing team.
She revealed that before writing had begun, Lily had already chosen song titles, and then filled the group on the backstory behind them.
She went on: ‘But because the story, although elaborated in some ways, is real, it’s easier to build on. We’re not trying to pull stuff from our imaginations.’
While she called Lily’s brutal honesty about the breakdown of her marriage and mental health struggles ‘so inspiring and just very real, because it was all happening to her in real time.’
However, Violet admitted that it also made the writing process ‘very intense’, as they were aware they were writing brutally honest lyrics about Lily’s real life experiences and emotions, sometimes over 12 hours a day.
She described writing Madeline as ‘very heavy’ and said working Lily was ‘like playing tennis’, with them throwing melodies and lyrics back and forth, while other times the singer would write ‘a whole paragraph of thoughts’ that the team would help arrange into a track.
While she acknowledged the rawness of subject matter, Violet praised Lily for remaining ‘so honest’ throughout the process and never attempting to sanitize herself, adding that the star remained joking and laughing throughout.
She said: ‘You have to approach it with a lot of compassion and space because these are very real feelings Lily had. While it might be painful, it was really fruitful.
In a new interview with Grazia, Violet Skies – one of the producers who worked on the album – described the writing process, calling it a ‘fever dream’ and insisting that the raw and detailed lyrics were ‘very real’
‘She’s so honest and funny and self-effacing; I don’t know if I’ve ever worked with an artist who’s willing to say what Lily will. Most people are trying to present the best version of themselves, and Lily was trying to present the realest version of herself.’
Admitting the group would laugh over the ‘audacity’ of some of the explicit and detailed lyrics, she recalled: ‘When we worked on Sleepwalking and we put the line in from Oliver Twist, “Please sir, can I have some more?” we were all laughing and then I turned to Lily like, “I feel bad because I know this is actually happening to you,” and she’s like, “No, it is funny!” I guess, what else are you going to do if you can’t laugh at it?’
Violet also enthused over Lily and Blue May’s determination to make all of the team received equal credit and an equal split of the profits, admitting that it was ‘rare’ to be given that much ‘transparency and respect’ in the industry.
Following the album’s release, Violet took to her Instagram to voice her excitement about her involvement.
She gushed: ‘Lily Allen’s West End Girl is out today. In a crazy turn of events, I wrote 6 songs with her and the BEST bloody crew of pals.
‘Lily gave us her absolute all and more – very few artists are so open, talented, skilled, honest, self-aware, self-effacing and funny.
‘Massive thanks to Blue and Kito for steering the ship and bringing us all together for the wildest 10 days.
‘Making this album with friends I’ve known for YEARS is a massive part of the reason I’m so proud of these songs. Please listen top to bottom ❤️
But describing the process of making the record, Violet insisted that although ‘elaborated in some ways’, the story ‘is real’, which she said made it easier for the writing team (pictured Lily’s album cover)
‘I wrote: Madeline, Sleepwalking, Let You W/in (my fave), Dallas Major, Relapse and Beg For Me.’
And showing her support in the comments, Lily wrote: ‘brit girls bringing it home x.’
The record comes after a turbulent time in Lily’s life following the breakdown of her marriage last December after she accused David of having multiple affairs including his three-year affair with a younger costume designer.
The Mail on Sunday has exclusively revealed the identity of ‘Madeline’ and spoke to her from her home in the US.
Lily’s fans have said the song is a modern-day equivalent of Beyonce’s ‘Becky with the good hair,’ which featured on a song called Sorry, a cheating diss track from her 2016 album Lemonade.
The lyrics see Lily appearing to suggest the couple had an open arrangement in regards to sex, as long as it was discrete, with paid strangers and not based on emotional connection.
She sings: ‘How long has it been going on? Is it just sex or is there emotion?/ He told me it would stay in hotel rooms, never be out in the open.
The chorus reads: ‘We had an arrangement/ Be discrete and don’t be blatant. There had to be payment/ It had to be with strangers/ But you’re not a stranger, Madeline.’
Following the album’s release, Violet took to her Instagram to voice her excitement about her involvement (pictured)
Speaking to The Times, Lily seemingly confirmed that ‘agreed-upon boundaries were not adhered to’ in her relationship with David, while addressing how apps had made cheating easier.
She said: ‘There are usually agreed-upon boundaries in relationships. But whether those boundaries are adhered to or not is becoming a grey area all of a sudden.
‘Dating apps make people disposable and that leads to the idea that if you are not happy, there’s so much more to choose from — right in your pocket.
Lily famously uncovered David’s infidelity when she discovered his profile on celebrity dating app, Raya, and ‘joined the dots’.
The pop star joined the app herself, pretending to be ‘looking for women’ – and allegedly found that her now ex-husband had already set up a dating profile.
Speaking to the publication, she detailed how she believed dating apps were making people ‘disposable’ and changing conventional ideas about monogamy.
Her split from David led Lily to check into a £8,000-a-week trauma treatment centre to focus on her mental health.
And she admitted that she has used her music as a way to work through the dark feelings she was having and to ‘lay my truth on the table’.
