Sarah Harte: Lily Allen's album is resonating with women for a reason

The all-too-common woman's experience of turning yourself inside out to make a failing relationship work strikes a chord with female listeners, whatever age

Lily Allen (left) had an open marriage with her former husband, American actor David Harbour (right).

It’s been officially hailed as ‘West End Girl Winter’ on Twitter. The explosively joyous reaction to Lily Allen’s new album, West End Girl, reminds me of the kind of energy that surrounded Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill. 

I remember a friend coming around in 1995 with a CD and playing it for us. Men told us to turn it down at parties and in the car as we sang our hearts out. There was something about Morissette’s raw pain and refusal to lie down that rattled the old bars of the patriarchal cage.