LIFE’S MORE INTERESTING WHEN LILY’S AROUND...

SAY what you like about her music, but you could never accuse Lily Allen of ever sitting on the fence. Over the past few years, the chart-topping songstress has placed herself right in the media firing line with her fiercely compassionate take on Britain’s socio-political turbulence.

Using social media to share her views on everything from Brexit to Britain’s immigration policy to the #MeToo campaign, the 32-yearold singer has become a real target for the more right-leaning factions of this country’s media – a hatred that Lily Allen is all too happy to embrace.

From the very outset, of course, Lily Allen has always been a most strident advert for the virtues of non-censorship.

The daughter of actor Keith Allen, Lily first arrived on the British pop landscape in the mid2000s, her debut LP, Alright, Still, winning over fans and critics with its charming directness and caustic wit.

The album sold over 2.5 million copies, made Allen a household name, and even secured her a BBC chat show, Lily Allen and Friends.

Since then, however, Allen’s relationship with her music – and, in turn, the celebrity spotlight – has become rather more precarious. She released two more albums (2009’s It Not Me, It’s You, and 2014’s Sheezus), but she has also given the impression that music was not her main priority – in 2010, she even announced her retirement from music to start a family.

All of which makes her latest return to the spotlight even more intriguing.

Performing live for the first time since 2015, Allen’s appearance at Manchester’s intimate Gorilla will be the first chance to hear songs from her fourth LP, No Shame, set for release in June.

Love or loathe her, the music industry is certainly a much more interesting place when Lily Allen is around.

Gorilla / thisisgorilla.com / 0161 826 2998 / Tuesday, March 20, 7pm / £27.50