Nieves González Is The Time-Warping Artist Behind Lily Allen’s New Album Cover

It would have been enough for Lily Allen’s latest album to cause a stir, both in the music and celebrity gossip press. (The best of the English singer-songwriter’s albums have done both for nearly two decades now.) West End Girl, however, isn’t only the best reviewed work of Allen’s career, it may have helped mint a rising art star along the way.

The new album’s cover art features a portrait by the young Spanish painter Nieves González. In the image for West End Girl, which debuted on October 24, Allen is depicted with a defiant, dead-on gaze in a classical pose—but clad in a very modern polka-dot puffer jacket. It’s the perfect aesthetic accompaniment to an album that lyrically explores those classic themes of betrayal, distrust, and deception with some very modern and pointed details (dating apps, 4Chan, navigating an open marriage in the public eye). It’s a tale as old as time, and yet one whose specifics could only happen to someone who’s spent their entire adulthood in the spotlight during the 21st century. Unlike so many recent records that seem to fade from memory shortly after release, interest in West End Girl continues to grow. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spotify streams have actually doubled in the time since release date—a modern rarity. Surely, the cover has only cemented its chances of becoming a timeless classic.

Born in 1996 and having finished up her art education at the University of Seville in 2021, González’s work is, in some ways, a reaction to image overload. She’s particularly interested in how visual art from all periods can coexist with today’s constant scroll of the Internet; her works blend the classic with the online together, to create new narratives. Her use of modern fashion sticks out—the way she both highlights and interrogates clothing’s ability to define our times.

Below, we chatted with González over e-mail about her process, how the album cover came to be, and the huge reaction behind it.

How did the commission for the album cover come about?

The commission came through Leith Clark, who is the art director of the project. She had a pretty clear idea of the atmosphere she wanted for West End Girl. I work very closely with her; we started developing my own sketches and proposals to bring that concept to life in the most figurative way possible, which is exactly what they wanted.

How much did you know about the theme of the album while working on the cover? Did you get to hear any of it?

I couldn’t listen to the album because it was a secret at that moment, but they did give me some references about the artist and her environment, along with the story of the cover, which is Lily. Knowing her name and personality helped me create my own pictorial language; that served as my guide. I worked from what the figure represents to me, and from there I built the entire compositional structure of the painting.

What has it been like seeing the album and the cover get so much positive reaction?

There’s been tremendous joy. When you’re inside the process, you don’t think too much about how it’s going to be received. But then, when the response is so positive, both toward the music and the cover, you feel great. I’ve been very fortunate to have had support from people in both fields.

In your work, there seems to be a tension between the old and the new, between the posing and classical techniques and the contemporary, very modern, even futuristic clothing your subjects wear.

This blend emerged quite naturally. I’ve always been interested in classical painting, its forms and techniques, how it gives off a very specific energy, and how the clothing somehow becomes part of that time. Contemporary garments, like padded jackets—which we’ve all worn and seen at some point—appeal to me, and I like how something so mundane can acquire an almost sculptural presence within the painting.

How do you select the clothing you’re going to paint? Do you base it on real garments or is it fantasy?

I work from real garments, which I sometimes modify to fit better in the painting. I’m interested in how clothing defines an era and how, through it, many things about the present can be told. I often think about [Spanish painter Francisco de] Zurbarán, and how figures can be identified through the language and identity of their garments. In this case, I was also looking for something similar: to observe the fashion of the moment and how it’s worn, not just as a decorative element, but as a part alive with the language and identity of the figures.