Lily Allens Album Empowers the Non-Monogamous.

has explained how her West End Girl album gives a voice to people 'pulled into non monogamous relationships when they didn't choose to' something she says is rarely spoken about. 

The smash hit record marked Lily's return to music after seven years and was recorded in just ten days, in the wake of her devastating split from ex-husband David Harbour, 51, in December 2024 after she allegedly discovered his cheating. 

The lyrics see her 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, rules the Stranger Things actor appeared to flout.

Now in a new interview, ahead of her festival return at next month's Mighty Hoopla,  Lily explained that speaking about non monogamous relationships within the heterosexual community was still 'relatively new.

She said:  'In the LGBTQIA+ community they’ve existed for much longer. What we don’t often see reflected in pop culture, though, is the emotional fallout of those arrangements' 

'We tend to hear the success stories — the positive, well-packaged versions — and that’s great for the people they work for'. 

'But there are also people on the other side of it, who don’t feel comfortable or feel pulled into something they didn’t choose'.

She went on to tell Mighty Hoopla's in house magazine Pop Mess: 'I think this album resonated because it gives a voice to that experience, which isn’t talked about nearly enough'. 

Released without prior notice and described as a 'brutal, tell-all masterpiece', the LP laid bare the complexities of their four-year marriage across 14 searingly honest tracks.

In the searingly-candid lyrics - which she has confessed is a blend of fact and fiction - she claims David pressured her into an open relationship, only to violate the ‘rules’ which they had set.

In her most talked about track, titled Madeline, she appears to directly address David's infidelity with the mystery woman, who she gives the fictional moniker.

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.

'Why would I trust anything that comes out of his mouth?/I'm not convinced that he didn't f**k you in our house'.

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'. 

The song also features spoken interludes from the character of Madeline where she insists to Lily over text: 'Our relationship has only ever been about sex/ I can promise you that this is not an emotional connection.

'We don't speak outside of the time we spend together/ And whenever he talks about you, it's with the upmost respect'.

Later Madeline adds: 'I hate that you're in so much pain right now/ I really don't wanna be the cause of any upset. He told me you were aware this was going on and that he had your full consent.

'If he's lying about that, then please let me know/ Because I have my own feelings about dishonesty/ Lies are not something that I want to get caught up in.'

The Daily Mail revealed that the woman behind the pseudonym Madeline, is costume designer Natalie Tippett, who is understood to have met David - who is 16 years her senior - while filming the Netflix movie We Have A Ghost in 2021, in New Orleans.

Their affair reportedly began shortly after shooting started, only a year after David and Lily tied the knot in Las Vegas.

Even after filming ended, the actor reportedly flew Natalie to his home in Atlanta, Georgia, as the affair continued behind Lily's back.

However, the hitmaker famously uncovered her husband's infidelity when she discovered his profile on celebrity dating app, , and 'joined the dots'.

She 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 Times in October, 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.'

Ten months before the release of West End Girl, it was revealed that the split had driven Lily to seek professional help. 

The Mail on Sunday revealed that the singer’s mental health deteriorated significantly after she returned from holiday to her marital home in New York in January.

It was

A source said: ‘It was very painful for Lily to return home. David used to be her saviour and now he’s a trigger for her...

'Lily settled her kids back into the family home and took them to school for their new term, then flew herself straight to rehab. She went a day earlier than intended as she felt wobbly and desperate to escape.’

She spent several weeks at the residential retreat in the US where she is said to have taken part in intensive group counselling sessions and one-on-one therapy in which she was reportedly urged to ‘unpack’ her emotions.

Don’t miss Lily Allen at Mighty Hoopla 2026 headlining Saturday 30th May on the Main Stage.