Jennifer Lucy Allan, known informally as Jen, is a British musicologist, writer and radio presenter. Allan was educated at the University of Sheffield, where she obtained a BA in philosophy, and at City, University of London, where she achieved an MA in magazine journalism. She has written for The GuardianThe Quietus, and The Wire, being online editor for the latter. She was a presenter on Resonance FM, and has presented special editions of the BBC Radio 3 programme Late Junction, making her debut on 24 July 2018. The first of three consecutive shows presented by Allan in February 2019, on the 26th, featured only tracks from live albums. For the following night's broadcast, she interviewed musician and artist Laurie Anderson. For the third night in the run, Allan presented a programme showcasing "Bagpipes like you’ve never heard them before". Allan had first appeared on the show as a studio guest, on 4 April 2018. Allan runs a record label, 'Arc Light Editions'. She is credited as 'spiritual adviser' on the albumThrone by experimental musician Heather Leigh, who says she "guided me during periods of extreme self doubt while recording". Allan has a particular interest in foghorns, and since 2015 has been researching a PhD with the subject "Fog Tropes: The social and cultural history of the foghorn 1853 to the present day" with the Creative Research into Sound Arts Practice centre, part of the University of the Arts London. She also wrote two chapters, "Horn Section: John Tyndall’s 1873 Foghorn Testing Sessions" and "Disturbing the Peace: The Cloch Foghorn and Changing Coastal Soundscapes in the 19th Century", in the academic publicationFrom the Lighthouse: Interdisciplinary Reflections on Light. She co-led University of the Arts' "Large Objects Moving Air 2018" conference, which featured James Dooley and Chris Watson among its keynote speakers. In February/ March 2018, she spent a month as writer in residence at Sumburgh Head Lighthouse on the Shetland mainland. She teaches an eight-week evening course in music journalism.
