Lily Allen Allegedly Quitting Music For (Another) Two Years

Becky Bain | December 2, 2009 11:16 am

Lily Allen has announced she’ll take a one-to-two year break from recording and performing music starting right after her two-night stand with Dizzee Rascal, which ends at London’s O2 Arena in March 2010. No, really. For real this time. What do you mean you aren’t buying it? C’mon, she means it this time, you guys.

Okay, she’s played this game before. But the pop star spoke to Radio 1’s Sara Cox about seriously taking a hiatus from the stage this time — available to listen to here if you’re in the UK, sorry Yanks. How is she spending her time off? No, not by starting side projects. (Lily, call us! We’ll think of some ideas!) Allen’s planning on setting up her own record label, opening up a rental fashion shop with her sister called Lucy In Disguise (no diamonds?) and “spend some time in the home I’ve built for myself”.

This time it’s apparent she probably means it, not least because of the other signs of her withdrawal from public (read: Internet) life. She deleted her Twitter account and stopped updating her over-sharer’s paradise MySpace blog, cutting off the loved constant personal communication she had with her fans. Explains the new-and-improved (and apparently Amish) Lily:

“I’ve stopped everything, I haven’t got a computer and I haven’t got a blackberry. I don’t do emails or anything now… I’ve decided to stop being so hypocritical and consume things and pay for them. I buy music in vinyl and buy newspapers. I support the industry I’m in.”

Good for you, Lily… though we didn’t need you to rub it in our face. (Sidenote: wonder if she’s getting into country?)

The saddest thing about Lily erasing her online presence (besides the loss of exposure for her provocative and brilliant artwork) is that she seemed to be the rare pop artist who actually understood how to exploit her Internet persona—yeah, we’ll call her a pioneer.

But honestly, is there that big a difference between this musical break and the one she took between Alright, Still (2006) and her sophomore It’s Not Me, It’s You (2009)? We were highly impressed with Lily’s arrival on the scene, but even we got impatient waiting three years for a second release.

Yes, she collaborated with other musicians during those years and hosted her own (ill-fated) talk show, so it’s not like she was a total recluse. But be gone for more than a year, and people forget about you. And real relevance isn’t created by befriending trainwrecks or becoming one yourself. She should keep that in mind if she’s really considering saying buh-bye for two years.

Let’s hope assume Lily’s just crying wolf on this one. And even if she isn’t, waiting two years is still a shorter amount of time than she took to make her last album.

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