Lily Allen Says Writing ‘West End Girl’ About David Harbour Divorce Was an ‘Act of Desperation’

Lily Allen didn’t just want to make music again after her marriage to David Harbour fell apart — she needed to.

In an interview with CBS Mornings that aired Thursday (Nov. 20), the British pop star opened up about making her new album, West End Girl, a visceral 14-track LP detailing the end of her relationship. The project has generated critical acclaim since its Oct. 24 release, but Allen revealed on the show that she wasn’t even sure whether it would “see the light of day” while she was writing it across 10 days in December.

“I wasn’t even really thinking about it as, like, a commercial endeavor,” she told correspondent Anthony Mason. “It was an act of desperation, actually.”

The album was therapeutic to the point where Allen didn’t feel like her “healing process” was complete until it came out into the world. “Since I’ve put it out, it’s felt completely and utterly liberating,” she said. “It was kind of hellish having it in the background. I don’t know. I just feel like I couldn’t, it said everything that I needed to say. And I felt like I couldn’t really like get on with my life until I’d said it.”

Billboard has reached out to David Harbour for comment on Allen’s CBS Mornings interview.

Though she’s now in a much better spot, 2024 was an excruciating year for Allen. One month prior to news of her separating from the Stranger Things actor coming out in February, the musician checked into a treatment facility to get help with her mental health. At the time, she said on her Miss Me? podcast that she was struggling with constant panic attacks and disordered eating.

“I was excited, but also, you know, my life was falling apart,” she reflected on CBS Mornings of writing the album just before going into treatment. “So I had to, like, go and deal with some very practical stuff.”

And while Allen has stated that West End Girl is a mix of real life and fantasy, it doesn’t paint a very flattering picture of her marriage to Harbour, whom she wed in 2020. The lyrics detail a partner who pressured her into having an open relationship before breaking the agreed-upon boundaries, leaving her feeling heartbroken and betrayed.

“That’s what’s fun about this record,” Allen told Interview Magazine in October. “At the time, I was really trying to process things, and that’s great in terms of the album, but I don’t feel confused or angry now. I don’t need revenge.”

Now feeling much better than she did a year ago, Allen is gearing up to go on a U.K. tour in 2026. She says she’s excited to bring her two daughters — whom she shares with ex-husband Sam Cooper — along for the ride, which she plans on expanding to include dates in North America soon.

Watch Allen’s interview with CBS Mornings below.