Lily Allen‘s controversial comeback campaign continues, with the English singer-songwriter hitting out at her record label for effectively holding her to ransom by refusing to pay to promote tracks from her new album which she believes could be singles.
Allen has previously admitted to being frustrated at the direction of her musical comeback after a four-year hiatus, and now says that she feels creatively controlled by her record label Warner as she prepares to release her third studio album Sheezus.
Speaking to TV3.ie at Vogue Festival, Allen said, “What you have heard on the radio station so far, the contribution of my album is very much the more beige, saccharine elements to what I have made.”
“The reason for that is because the people in control of the radio stations, the people that are in control of the record companies, are too scared to put themselves on the line in case someone gets offended,” she continued.
“If I said to my record company, ‘I really want to go with this song,’ they would say, ‘Sure, here is £5 for the video’.”
This sentiment backs up earlier comments by Allen, who recently told a fan via Twitter that labels and radio stations “won’t play the better stuff”. She has also defended herself against feminist critics in recent weeks, and posited that “men get credit for female pop success”.
Conversely, Allen also opened up about how her family life has made her a more optimistic person, and how it has changed the nature of her writing.
“My music has changed because I am happier,” she said. “Beforehand on my last record I was a young woman who didn’t know what the future held for her. Now I am very much in love, I’m married to a man that I’m pretty sure I’m going to spend the rest of her life with, I have two children who I love and adore so my writing comes from a more confident and settled and stable place. But I don’t know if that makes it more tasteful.”
Lily Allen will launch her new album Sheezus with a one-off gig at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Monday, 28th April. It will be her first headline performance in four years.
Watch: Lily Allen – Our Time
