Pop star Lily Allen's new album underwhelms her as it fails to measure up to her previous records.

The Smile hitmaker will release her third album - "Sheezus" - Friday after four years, reports contactmusic.com.

Last month she addressed criticisms of the early singles from the record, describing them as "beige", but told fans the best songs were yet to come.

However, now Allen has admitted "Sheezus" is not her greatest work, but she is happy that it "slightly resembled" her signature sound after so long away from a recording studio.

"I felt such relief that I could connect with myself again. I don't want to slag off my own work because I am proud of this record, but I think there's probably better to come from me and there's been better stuff in the past as well," said Allen who took a break from the music industry to start a family.

"I was just relieved to have something that slightly resembled me because I'd felt so far away from me."