As a longtime Charli XCX fan, these last few years have been a total whirlwind. From pandemic DJ sets on Instagram and seeing her at the Ogden during what some fans considered her “flop era,” to seeing her blow up two years later and create one of the biggest moments in modern pop music/pop culture with “brat summer.” With her newest album, many people expected her to try to replicate that same success, but I’m happy that Charli has stayed true to what she wants to make – even if it doesn’t appease the mainstream.
Charli made it crystal clear that she’d be taking a new direction musically when the first single “Rock Music” dropped from her new album “Music, Fashion, Film.”,”. While still dancy, the track feels a lot less commercial than her previous efforts. Featuring distorted guitars, analog drums, and unconventional vocal deliveries (for an artist that’s traditionally pop), the song was jarring! The track divided long-term and newer fans on the internet; with some feeling alienated, and some loving Charli’s new unconventional direction. These feelings would only deepen for fans with each new single and finally the full album.
I feel like I’ve been in the trenches of pop music these last couple of weeks, watching her catch flak. Not sure if I’m just around all the wrong people or what, but I really enjoyed this record! And I feel like I’m in the minority, but it has grown on me more with each listen. When you have the luxury of talking to dozens of customers about it like I do, I’d be lying if I said it doesn’t baffle my mind that the most positive thing I’ve heard is that “it’s consistent.” While it may be Charli’s most “out there” record, I’d actually argue that it feels like somewhat of a return to form. Not only that, but it might also be her most rewarding record on a full listen through.
If there’s one sentence I’ve been using to describe this record, it’s that it feels as if “how i’m feeling now” had an older sister. Charli’s vulnerability is still on full display, but this time around it feels like it has a thick outer shell around it created by vocal performances that are very somber and monotone (in a way that doesn’t sound like she’s bored). This can be seen on tracks like “Card Declined,” “I’m Afraid,” and “Magic Metal Montana.”
“Card Declined” in fact is a perfect example of the album's thesis. With a guitar section that's distorted and repetitive, followed with a monotone vocal delivery, Charli talks about buying things until her card declines. Where most artists glamourize shopping, Charli makes it sound like a coping mechanism; something that’s only further emphasized with lyrics like:
“Let's go shopping / I'll buy a handbag / I'll buy some shoes / I'll buy a smile / I'll buy some jewelry / a personality / A whole backstory / card declined.”
These types of lyrical themes aren’t uncommon in Charli XCX records. In fact, her vulnerability was something critics and fans alike both praised from her previous studio album “brat.” So if her lyrics are fairly similar, it must be the instrumentals that are making this album less liked by fans, right? While this is true for some people, it seems like it isn’t a big enough contender. So while some have mentioned that they miss the dancier instrumentals and more traditional pop vocals, I can’t help but feel like all of this hate comes from expectations not being met.
When most artists have a breakout record even half the size of Charli’s, the artist's (and potentially the label’s) immediate reaction is to follow that same sound and capitalize on it. But Charli has never been the type of artist to follow “what sells well” or “what the people want”-- she makes the art she enjoys!
In her interview with Zane Lowe during the “brat” era, Lowe says something along the lines of “you never chased what the music the world wanted, the world finally just caught up to what you were making.” To me, I couldn’t say it better! Brat was never supposed to be a smash record; Charli’s even said it herself. In fact, she’s even gone on record and said she thought it’d be a flop!
In Charli’s A24 film from earlier this year titled “The Moment,” we see a mockumentary style story about a fictionalized version of Charli dealing with the gentrification of “brat” as it skyrockets in popularity. While it’s clearly a satirization of what actually happened, you can’t help but wonder how much of that fear and pressure genuinely did consume her, or even how much pressure was put onto her to be “the next Taylor Swift” when executives saw how big it got. And while I can’t confirm if that’s really what happened, it would make her decisions like making the soundtrack for Wuthering Heights (which is also a complete 180 from “brat”), or her doing more acting in films like Gregg Araki’s “I Want Your Sex” and Pete Ohs’ “Erupcja” make a lot more sense.
Whatever the case may be, count me in for any future Charli XCX projects no matter how left field they get.
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