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Lily Allen · S1 E7
The Demos
A girl with a guitar and a voice that cut through everything
London Records, 2002. Seventeen-year-old Lily Allen sits in a recording studio singing folk songs she did not write, because her father Keith got her this deal and the songs are his.
Knock 'Em Out by Lily Allen (Live at Glastonbury 2007). One of the earliest Future Cut demos, performed at the festival she first attended at six weeks old. A sharp, funny takedown of unwanted male attention. This is the voice that nobody at London Records wanted to hear.
“I always wanted to do music but never really had the confidence to do it until my first manager George Lamb, who I met out in Ibiza, encouraged me.”
— Lily Allen
Future Cut
George Lamb introduces Lily to production duo Future Cut: Darren Lewis and Tunde Babalola. They begin recording at The Fish Market studio in Dollis Hill. Lily sings melodies with no words, Future Cut arranges them into songs, lyrics come later. They complete a quarter of the album in a single week.
Smile by Lily Allen (2006)
The first song Lily Allen ever writes, produced by Future Cut and sampling "Free Soul" by The Soul Brothers. Written about her breakup with DJ Lester Lloyd. The famous "la la la" middle eight exists because nobody told her what a middle eight was, so she just sang la la la as a placeholder. They never changed it.
TAP TO REVEAL: How much Regal Recordings paid for Lily Allen
Not Big by Lily Allen
From Alright, Still (2006). Pure venom wrapped in a nursery-rhyme melody. Lily tells an ex he was terrible in bed with the sweetest voice imaginable. This is the songwriting style Future Cut helped her discover: say the most devastating thing possible, then set it to music your grandmother could hum.
The Demos by the Numbers
What was the first song Lily Allen ever wrote?
Twenty-five thousand pounds for five albums from a label that sees her as an afterthought. Then, in November 2005, Lily uploads her music to a website called MySpace and everything changes overnight.
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