Lily Allen has dropped her first album in seven years and it is... revealing.
Raw, powerful and honest is how listeners are describing the tell-all tracks, with West End Girl detailing the end of Allen's marriage with Stranger Things actor David Harbour.
An alleged request for an open marriage, cheating claims and accusations of sex addiction all feature.
We asked Australian artists about turning pain into power, and why break-up songs — whether it's romantic or friendship — resonate so deeply with audiences.
'Back then, I didn't have the words'
Elska, 40, music artist based in Brisbane/Meanjin
Lily has always been unapologetically herself and her words have always been very honest, direct and never sugar-coated.
As a fellow female pop artist and mother in my 40s, Lily inspires me to claim and stand in my power and give voice to experiences I didn't have the words for when I was younger.
I am currently writing a body of music around a break-up I experienced more than 20 years ago.
Back then I didn't have the words, wisdom or guts to voice my story, but now as a woman in her 40s, I'm not holding back.
Whilst this is healing for me, I know that my art will give voice to truths that others will have experienced and may not be able to express.
Relationship — and even friendship — break-ups are difficult, and I feel that sharing in a public way opens up conversation and gives people permission to consider what they may or may not accept in a relationship or friendship.
I feel it allows for healthy discourse into boundaries — even just having a conversation with yourself. Put yourself in their shoes and consider, what would you do?
I love listening to another artist's point of view or the language they chose to tell the story in their song, to encapsulate their personal experience.
'They make the pain more intense so you can get over it'
Sahara Beck, 29, singer-songwriter and Pub Choir musician, based in Brisbane/Meanjin
I haven't had a listen to Lily Allen's new album yet, because I've been touring so much. However, I am constantly hearing good things, and I think I'm going to have to listen.
My favourite break-up song is How Could You Babe, by [Canadian singer-songwriter] Tobias Jesso Jr; it re-breaks my heart with every listen.
I've gotten through every break-up with the help of a break-up song. They make the pain more intense so you can get over it more quickly.
I have never intentionally written a break-up song. Every break up song I've written has usually been on the day of a break-up or the following day, while I'm still feeling the deep hurt of what has happened.
The first big break-up song I wrote was Crack Bang Bang. I was 18 or 19 and my boyfriend at the time came to my birthday and took 98 per cent of the party somewhere else.
When I asked him to stay, he just said 'sorry' and left.
The next morning, I drove to his house and ended things and spent the whole drive home bawling my eyes out.
Then I went to my room and wrote Crack Bang Bang in about 20 minutes, because it was just a way for me to look at all the facts and realise what had happened.
When people have told me that I articulated something they felt but didn't know how to put into words, that feels very special to me.
I want to create little sonic spaces where people feel seen in times of intense emotion like heartbreak.
'It helped me process those emotions'
Jazmine De Castro, 25, musician from Brisbane/Meanjin
I've written about a friendship break-up called New Friends.
It's a song that helped me grieve a friendship that I thought could be mended.
This song expressed my journey through that by confronting my part, feeling the guilt and growth that come with change, and learning to accept that I'm evolving and they might be too but we're not in each other's lives anymore.
It helped me process those emotions and understand the complexity of letting friendships go.
When I play this song at gigs, I see the way it impacts people and they feel seen.
They're going through their own grief and self-growth.
It's one of my favourite parts as a musician. That connection we share where we're not alone in those feelings.
