“Stranger Things” fans know David Harbour as the lovably gruff Chief of Police Jim Hopper, but a whole new side of him has been exposed by Lily Allen’s new breakup album, “West End Girl.”
Harbour and Allen’s separation was confirmed earlier this year. The pair tied the knot in September 2020 after about a year of dating. “West End Girl,” which was released on Oct. 24, paints a scathing portrait of Harbour’s alleged behavior during the marriage.
The album opens with the title track, which includes a one-sided phone call of Allen getting the news that her husband wants to open their marriage. She was in London at the time, making her West End debut in the play “2:22 A Ghost Story,” while Harbour was back in their shared New York City home.
Lily Allen and David Harbour.Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
“Why can’t you wait for me to come home? This conversation’s too big for a phone call,” Allen sings on the following track, “Ruminating.”
The bombshell revelations continue from there. The track “Madeline” suggests that Harbour deviated from the duo’s rules for their open marriage.
“We had an arrangement / Be discreet and don’t be blatant / There had to be payment / It had to be with strangers / But you’re not a stranger, Madeline,” Allen sings.
Allen’s dark sense of humor has been part of her lyrical style since her 2006 debut record, “Alright, Still,” but she reaches new scathing heights on “West End Girl.”
Whether she’s singing about finding her husband’s stash of sexual paraphernalia (“Hundreds of Trojans / you’re so f—ing broken”) or her own reluctant return to dating apps (“I’m a mum to teenage children, does that sound like fun to you?”), Allen holds nothing back.
After listening to “West End Girl” in its entirety, it’s easy to wonder how Harbour will be able to show his face doing press for the final season of “Stranger Things,” which hits Netflix on Nov. 26. But Allen told Interview Magazine that she wasn’t seeking “revenge” when she released the album.
“I wrote this record in 10 days in December [2024], and I feel very differently about the whole situation now. We all go through breakups and it’s always f—ing brutal. But I don’t think it’s that often that you feel inclined to write about it while you’re in it,” she said. “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.”
READ MORE: Who’s missing from the ‘Stranger Things’ season 5 trailer?
Allen also told British Vogue that not everything on the record is the literal truth.
“There are things that are on the record that I experienced within my marriage, but that’s not to say that it’s all gospel,” she said. “It is inspired by what went on in the relationship.”
Harbour has yet to publicly react to “West End Girl.” Allen told Interview magazine that she tries “not to think about” him hearing the songs. Back in April, Harbour told GQ that there was “no use” in weighing in on the discourse about him and Allen “because it’s all based on hysterical hyperbole” and amounted to “a salacious s—show of humiliation.”
Allen defends her right to air out her ex’s dirty laundry on the “West End Girl” track “Let you W/In.”
“God knows how long you’ve been getting away with it / Already let you in, all I can do is sing / So why should I let you win?” she sings.
Part 1 of “Stranger Things” season 5 will hit Netflix on Nov. 26. Parts 2 and 3 will premiere on Dec. 25 and Dec. 31, respectively. Past seasons of “Stranger Things” are available to stream on Netflix.
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