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Lily Allen · S2 E5
Regal Records
Getting signed in the middle of a cultural revolution
New York City, early 2006. Mark Ronson finds a stack of demo CDs at the bottom of his bag, puts on "Smile," and is blown away. The problem: he is not famous enough for the label to fly a new signing across the Atlantic, so he uses his own air miles.
Mark Ronson, a profile of the producer who heard Lily Allen's demos at the bottom of a bag and flew her to New York on air miles. He produced "Littlest Things" for Alright, Still and went on to work with Amy Winehouse, Bruno Mars, and Lady Gaga.
The Imprint
Regal Recordings is not Parlophone. It is Parlophone's development imprint, the label where you park artists nobody is sure about yet. In 2005, Parlophone is printing money from Coldplay's X&Y and Gorillaz' Demon Days. Lily Allen's 25,000-pound deal is a rounding error in that budget.
“The attention made the album sound like it does now. At the time, the label thought it sounded all right, but after all the attention, it was like, shit, this girl's really good.”
— Lily Allen, on Parlophone's reaction to the MySpace explosion
Littlest Things, Lily Allen (2006)
Key of D minor. Produced by Mark Ronson at Allido Studios, New York. Built on a sample of "Sailing" by Bert Kaempfert (1970), a lounge-jazz instrumental that Ronson repurposes as a wistful, cinematic backdrop. Her voice drops to a whisper as she catalogues tiny romantic memories. The production is the most restrained on the album: no ska, no brass, just space and regret.
TAP TO REVEAL: How Alright, Still was actually made
Allido Studios, New York City
Mark Ronson's personal studio, formerly known as Sorcerer Sound, purchased in 2005. This is where "Littlest Things" was recorded. Lily Allen's first session outside London, booked on air miles because the label would not pay for the flight.
Everything's Just Wonderful
From Alright, Still (2006). Produced by Greg Kurstin, the quiet American genius who would later produce Lily's entire second album. A song about anxiety dressed up as optimism. The sarcasm is lethal. Kurstin's production is brighter and tighter than Future Cut's, a preview of what comes next.
How did Mark Ronson fund Lily Allen's first trip to his New York studio?
Five producers, two continents, one album held together by a voice that sounds like nobody else in British pop. Next episode: the Notting Hill set, the friends, the fashion, and the London scene that raised her.
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