The 40-year-old singer has released her first LP since 2018's No Shame last week, and the content left fans stunned as it appears to lay bare the breakdown of her marriage to David Harbour amid speculation he was unfaithful to her.
However, she does not feel she was being "mean" to the Stranger Things star by laying out her feelings publicly.
"It's not a cruel album. I don't feel like I'm being mean. It was just the feelings I was processing at the time," she told Interview magazine.
Lily is in a different headspace now than she was when she wrote the record and does not feel the need for "revenge".
"I mean, I wrote this record in 10 days in December and I feel very differently about the whole situation now.
"We all go through break-ups 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.
"That's what's fun about this record; it's viscerally like going through the motions. 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."
But she stressed the record was not entirely autobiographical, with part of it "based on truth and some of it is fantasy".
The Smile hit maker felt it was important not to be seen as a "victim" in the songs.
She said: "We did go back and tweak things. It was very important to me that I didn't sound like a victim, so I'd be like, 'We have to change that line. It just sounds too, 'Poor me'.
"I wanted it to feel brutal and tragic, but also empowering, that there was joy in being able to express it."
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