Lily Allen has announced that she is turning her hand to country music after previously criticising Beyoncé’s decision to cross over to the genre.
The Smile singer, 38, hasn’t released new music since 2018, but revealed she has been back in the studio embracing her inner cowgirl.
Appearing on Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett’s Dish podcast, she said: “I'm just making some space for some music. For some music to reveal itself.
“It's not an album, it's just, yeah, I'm just, you know, trying some stuff out, see if it works. I do love country and western music. And also I feel like with my writing, it's quite storytelling, sort of like narrative led music.
“Because I don't feel things, so it's never about emotions. So… yeah, and country, country and western music lends itself quite well.”
It’s interesting timing given earlier this month she hit out at Beyonce's new country album Cowboy Carter, calling it “calculated” and questioning why she chose to cover Dolly Parton's Jolene.
Speaking on her BBC Sounds podcast Miss Me? with her best friend Miquita Oliver, Allen explained that in her eyes, the R&B superstar’s transition into country music struck her as premeditated, harking back to her husband Jay-Z's speech at the Grammys criticising organisers for never awarding Beyoncé with the honours for Best Album.
“I think it's been quite calculated,” she mused. “I feel like when Jay-Z got up at the Grammys, that was part of this campaign.
“It was before the album had come out or even been announced and she was wearing the blonde wig and a cowboy hat.”
The mum-of-two said she felt Beyoncé had wanted to “challenge the institution,” noting that she had achieved it by becoming “the most played woman on country music.”
She additionally questioned Beyoncé covering Dolly Parton's 1973 mega-hit Jolene, calling it “weird”.
“It’s very weird that you’d cover the most successful songs in that genre,” she remarked.
“I just feel like it’s quite an interesting thing to do when you’re like trying to tackle a new genre and you just choose the biggest song in that genre to cover.”
“I mean, you do you, Beyoncé – and she literally is doing her, but why is she doing Dolly?”
