Lily Allen insists the mysterious Madeline on her new album is a fictional character construct of numerous people.

The 40-year-old singer has just released West End Girl - her first album in seven years - following her split from 50-year-old Stranger Things actor David Harbour in February after four years of marriage.

The 14-track record - which is "a mixture of fact and fiction" - explores themes of cheating, gaslighting, open relationships and sex addiction.

On the tracks Tennis and Madeline, Lily names a woman named Madeline, whom she questions after spotting a text message appear from her on a partner's phone.

Now, the hitmaker insisted to The Sunday Times that Madeline is "a fictional character".

Asked if Madeline is "a construct of others", Lily simply replied: "Yes."

Elsewhere in the interview, the one-time Grammy Award nominee thinks lots of young women are no longer finding marriage and long-term relationships attractive.

Lily explained: "I just feel we are living in really interesting times - in terms of how we define intimacy and monogamy, people being disposable or not.

"The way we are being intimate with each other is changing as humans … Lots of young women are not finding the idea of marriage or even a long-term relationship that attractive anymore."

The star - whose 72-year-old dad, actor Keith Allen, and 64-year-old mom, film producer Alison Owen, divorced when Lily was four - added: "I don't know [that] it's necessarily bad.

"Lots of people from my parents' generation stayed together forever and were miserable.

"You didn't have endless choice, so you may have worked at something harder. But now you don't have to."

The Smile hitmaker also thinks "intimacy is inherently messy".

She added: "There are usually agreed-upon boundaries in relationships.

"But whether those boundaries are adhered to or not is becoming a grey area all of a sudden.

"Dating apps make people disposable, and that leads to the idea that if you are not happy, there's so much more to choose from - right in your pocket."