There are parallels to Madonna’s Ray of Light in No Shame: both in the thematic reflections on motherhood and personal evolution that these defiant women share. After her album, Madge went back to chasing some idea of what the youths wanted, forever chasing a spot on TRL and the pop charts. Luckily for Allen, she’s already done it out of order and had her pop breakdown before she discovered the path she’d rather be on and that she doesn't give a fuck about being on trend. Her new act plays like John Lennon’s post-Beatles material: full of love for parenthood, empathy, and self-possessed as fuck. “Family Man,” which deals with her divorce, and “Everything to Feel Something,” which details her breakdown during Sheezus along with the bad personal choices she made during that period, especially ring true to the brutally self-aware and incredibly beautiful music Lennon explored as he matured. It’s sad and it’s real; hopefully the music industry has learned by now to let Allen be herself.