Album Review: Charli Came to Party (and Re-Invent Pop Music)
Always on the cutting-edge of pop music, Charli XCX delivered a futuristic yet classic third studio album with her latest release, Charli. With innovative production, tastefully rendered vocals, and stomping synth beats, Charli demands the unceasing attention of pop listeners and rightfully earns their admiration along the way.
Written by Ellen Daly
Photo courtesy of Atlantic Records
Charli XCX is no novice in the world of pop music. Having signed her first record deal back in 2010, she has since opened for some of the biggest names in pop music such as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, and Coldplay, and is currently on her fifth headlining tour. Her fame skyrocketed in 2013 when her Icona Pop collaboration “I Love It” achieved international success.The following year, she collaborated with Iggy Azalea on “Fancy,” which ultimately became one of the best-selling singles of all time. Playing off this momentum, Charli has focused primarily on releasing singles, EPs, and mixtapes throughout her career rather than conforming to the traditional album format. Charli, however, breaks this mold and blows even veteran fans away with its experimental styles, while still paying homage to traditional pop music.
Packed with features but maintaining a very “Charli” sound, the album bounces from rave music to intimate ballads in an impressively cohesive manner. Its preceding singles “1999” (with Troye Sivan), “Blame It On Your Love” (with Lizzo), and “Gone” (with Christine and the Queens) introduced fans to the album’s energy without revealing its greatest feats. “1999” takes fans back to their childhoods with non stop 90s references and an infectiously catchy beat. “Blame It On Your Love” remixes “Track 10” from Charli’s 2017 mixtape Pop 2 with a very necessary, very 2019 Lizzo feature, which even references Lizzo’s hit single “Juice” without feeling tacky or forced. Lastly, “Gone” is arguably one of the best pop songs released this year. On this timeless synth-pop track, Charli XCX and Christine and the Queens effortlessly manage to make traditional pop sound sequences feel progressive and refreshing.
It’s easy to lose track of the countless features on album, but there are a few particularly noteworthy moments. Arguably the most experimental track on the record is “Shake It,” a collaboration with Big Freedia, cupcakKe, Brooke Candy, and Pabllo Vittar. Each artist brings a completely different sound ― Big Freedia shouts, cupcakKe whispers ASMR style, Brooke Candy raps in autotune, and Pablo Vittar drops some Portuguese on the track ― while Charli seamlessly ties it all together with the simple phrase “I shake it, I shake it, I shake it, ooh.” The song, like most of the album, is jam-packed with futuristic sounds without being obnoxious, but still pushes the boundaries of what pop music can be in 2019. On the outro “2099,” Charli XCX and Troye Sivan imagine the future of music, taking place exactly 100 years after their preceding collaboration “1999.” The lyrics are fairly simple, with Charli and Troye simply basking in the variety of sounds they’ve created as a precedent for the future of pop music.
Photo courtesy of Jalouse Magazine
Despite the multitude of collaborations on the album, Charli reserved several moments to herself on the record, preventing the entire album from turning into noise rather than art. The opening track “Next Level Charli” communicates to the listener that she is pushing herself beyond any music she has ever made before, and recalls some regular themes in her music such as partying, bumping music with friends, and riding around in cars. However, Charli does not limit the album to just party anthems with electronic beats. The sequence of “White Mercedes,” “Silver Cross,” “I Don’t Wanna Know,” and “Official” takes a noticeable break from all of the features and party tunes on the rest of the album and allows for introspection on more personal topics, like the emotional turmoil she has faced as a twenty-something woman navigating love and relationships. These tracks allow Charli the depth to be seen as an artist with not only energy but dimension, which is somewhat overlooked in her popular discography but necessary to see Charli.
On her new album, Charli XCX does not rely on the nostalgia of the past but embraces the age we are in and the times to come. She prides herself on creating music that sounds new and different and rallies a team of young artists that she personally believes in to make it all possible. If nothing else, Charli XCX proves on her new album that today’s youth has a lot to look forward to ― at the very least, in the realm of pop music.