Lily Allen

Lily Allen is a singing contradiction. The pop artist is a fierce critic of the music industry that made her famous in the first place, and the first half of her sophomore album, It's Not Me, It's You, is devoted to exposing the moral turpitude of our materialistic world. But of course, this is the same world that enabled Allen to sell 2.5 million copies of her fantastic debut effort, Alright, Still.

Throughout lead track "Everyone's At It," Allen delivers shot after shot at the widespread depravity of high society, singling out drug addicts, corrupt politicians and overmedicated youth as targets. On lead single "The Fear," she takes direct aim at the trappings of stardom, singing "I will take my clothes off and it will be shameless/Because everyone knows that's how you get famous." Don't let Allen's upbeat tempo and soft voice fool you-she's one angry Brit.

Yet if the first half of It's Not Me, It's You serves as lyrical catharsis, the second attempts to highlight Allen's softer side. There are times when she comes off as honest and sincere, most evident on the slower "Chinese" or "Who'd Have Known," where she describes her budding relationship as "just the right amount of awkward" and delights when her beau "accidentally called me baby."

But these tracks contrast oddly with pieces like "Not Fair" and "Never Gonna Happen," where Allen either castigates her partner for being sexually selfish or revels in telling a suitor that she is way out of his league. The end product is part Jewel, part Amy Winehouse-the results are catchy but thematically mixed.

Through it all, Allen tackles a variety of issues-religion, newfound fame, premature ejaculation-with an infectious ska sound. Allen's musical schizophrenia might puzzle, but give her credit-she definitely entertains.