Homesick Lily Allen has postponed the next leg of her US tour, the star confirmed last night.

The 21-year-old, who complained recently that attempting to crack the US market was boring, said she wanted to begin work on her second album.

Smile star Allen will perform just a couple more dates on her tour before axing 20 gigs across the US.

Today's announcement follows reports that the singer, daughter of actor Keith Allen, was too exhausted to continue.

Her spokesman Murray Chalmers said she had been on the road for the past year and was desperate to get back into the studio.

He said: "She has been writing new material whilst on the road in the US and wants to capture these new songs in the studio."

London-born Allen said: "I want to give my best to every audience I play to but, at the same time, I am itching to get back in the studio to start recording these great new songs, to keep things fresh for the audience and for myself."

The 20 remaining US dates will be rescheduled for the end of the year.

Allen was due to travel across the country promoting her album Alright, Still, at gigs in Tucson in Arizona, Kansas City and Denver.

The feisty star, an unknown before finding success through the internet, has told how she has been "weeping under the duvet" because of the gruelling schedule.

She has also sparked controversy - branding George Bush an a******* and calling Southern Americans "backwards".

She wrote on her MySpace blog recently: "Life is weird at the moment. Is it really important to break America?

"If it is I have to write my life off for the next nine months, playing the same gig answering the same questions to different journalists and such.

"It's either that or I could go home, sit on my boyfriend's sofa for a bit, then write a new album. What d'you reckon?"

Allen went on: "As much as I love driving across America and doing the same thing every night, I'm bored slightly."

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