Charli XCX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chSZCtLrgz8

this one's pretty good

this rules

Kind of fun listening to it become increasingly apparent that A.G. Cook has a production credit on that
Also his love for Rhythm Nation-era Jam & Lewis showing through a bit on the coda, which I love

Incredible song and video!

Is there any chance this can be the huge hit it deserves to be?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGrxBmyiMls

what the fuck is this shit

why has charli willingly contributed to the alarmingly vast wave of pseudo-covers of late-80s-thru-early-00s hits excreted by the edm industry over the past five years

not that she's incapable of her own brand of misguided garbage but damn

i sort of prefer the... trollishness of this compared to "1999" which strikes me as abjectly lazy songwriting dressed up as a concept

not that this doesn't suck in its own specific ways

considering that she's just a feature on it i've been willing to mostly blame diplo and whoever herve pagez is for that

Spicy is definitely one of the worst songs she's ever been involved with, but Gone is one of the best. It's exhausting being a fan of hers sometimes.

I've been going back to Pop 2 a lot recently. It didn't really click with me when it came out and I actually thought Number 1 Angel was much stronger. I'm definitely seeing why people were so excited about it now.

i still adore Pop 2, it's both her best release and by far the best thing to come out of anything related to PC Music. "Backseat", "Tears", "Unlock It" and "Track 10" are all especially thrilling

Man, that “Spicy” track/video is an abomination

When your label regards you as barely a notch above the writing-camp set you occasionally have to suck it up and do the job that a “Spicy” requires of you
Presumably she had a decent amount of fun making it, at least

she performed the song at pitchfork fest this past weekend which would indicate she is not a hostage in this situation

Heh, seems like I am alone in enjoying Spicy then.

I’m pretty interested to see what she does in terms of her set list for this upcoming headline tour. It’s been years since she’s toured properly - her shows for the last 3-4 years have either been opening for larger acts (T-Swift, Halsey), ravier “parties” (mostly in the wake of Pop 2) in a small number of cities and in small venues, or random club shows like the one with SOPHIE in LA at the end of 2016 where she played most of what would’ve constituted the now scrapped XCX World album. That’s meant a lot of inconsistency in an attempt to cater to different audiences - the Taylor show attendees got “Boom Clap” and “Fancy”, while at the club parties she’d bring out Caroline Polachek for “Tears” or whatever. I guess she’ll play a lot of songs from the new record on this new tour - hopefully a track or two from the first two albums makes the cut ahead of “Spicy”.

xp: Its certainly not her best, but I don't think it's particularly bad. I'm not too familiar with the source material.

I loorv it!

WTF?!

I'm not too familiar with the source material.

it's the second-best pop single of the '90s!

I was mostly listening to too much phish and sublime at the time unfortunately. I know the chorus to Wannabe but couldn't recognize the verses.

Sounds like a good homework assignment is to listen to Spice. :D

New track (ft. HAIM):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQQKZ8z98gk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zg3ZOn1pHc

this one is short but i really like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp3xFiQuT0A

her cover of "tootimetootimetootime" was great too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4B3s6OqLfg

New album makes me miss old Charli and also that I can only tolerate AG Cook/PC Music production for like 15 mins at a time max despite their/their aesthetic's growing ubiquity in pop music

The last 30 seconds of "Click" may be the most unlistenable, unpleasant thing I've ever heard in my life

I was surprised this wasn’t on the album, was on of my favourites of the recent tracks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSQEKEegiH0

I don't know, I feel like there's a bit of the old Charli on this album! "Cross You Out" and its 80s prom sludge especially reminds me of True Romance. To me the album is kind of messy but also solidly reconciles two of her principal personas, being "brash pop singer" and "bonkers pop reformist" (for the latter, see "Shake It" and "Click")

this is generally fine but mostly feels like an attempt to recapture the magic of Pop 2 that doesn't quite get there (though gets decently close at times). it's less focused, not quite as jam-packed with hooks and the textures feel a little brighter and harsher too which ends up a bit grating by the end.

"gone" is kinda representative of the whole album because it's a pretty good song but then goes for a "backseat"-style breakdown but doesn't quite push things as far and the end result is a bit underwhelming in comparison?

i know the haim track came out weeks ago but that's my favorite, it kicks ass

is there some label drama that kept "Pop 2" from being an "album"? I loved it. Given what they did with "Blame it on Your Love", this album comes off as trying to reshape that sound to something than can chart... then again "Click" gets pretty damn weird.

Anyway I've been looking forward to the album and didn't bother with the other singles much. Talk later,angels

"white mercedes" is excellent, fully hybridized charli

"blame it on your love" and "1999" are far and away the worst songs on this

"Gone" sounded good at Pitchfork a couple months ago.

WHY YOU WANNA GO TO SLEEP
DON'T GO TO SLEEP
DON'T GO TO SLEEP
LET'S GO OUUUUUT

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, April 22, 2013 1:02 PM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

me otm

"White Mercedes," "I Don't Wanna Know," and "Official" sound like future soft-rock radio staples to me

Very disappointed with the tame noisiness at the end of "Click" after the "most unlistenable, unpleasant thing I've ever heard in my life" setup!

I still want a whole album that sounds like "Nuclear Seasons", one day, but for now this sounds pretty intriguing. "Next Level Charli", "Gone", "Cross You Out", "Click", "Warm", "Thoughts", "White Mercedes" and "Silver Cross" is my initial abridged version, and I suspect my 12yo daughter will like most of the ones I didn't pick.

Oh, and "2099", I'll take that one, too.

"blame it on your love" is decent enough even when "track 10" already exists, except for the drop and the lizzo verse which is as perfunctory as guest-rap bridges get

I feel like this is a valid compromise of the music that Charli wants to make and what her label wants her to release.
*shrug* I kinda like it.

But I've also set my expections on worse and so I'm glad this record still has its Pop2'esque moments, even though like everyone and their mom I'd - of course - want a Pop 3 by Charli instead of another "regular" album.

Sad about this release. The relentless release of singles was an odd gesture that I couldn't figure out whether done in pride or worry --- but so very likely some other monetary gain behind it. It's just very mediocre. There are moments that never shine. And, me, I'm the kind of guy who worships AG and regularly listens to his Soundcloud mixes just because I find his style so addictive. There's so little here that I want to listen to again.

Still optimistic for Pop 3!

Seeing as they did a remix of 'What I Like' years ago I'm shocked that 'Cross You Out' isn't a straight off the rail Com Truise joint. I guess the overlap between them and AG Cook is smaller than I appreciated.

Surprised to see such a mixed reaction for the album on here. I'm pretty much obsessed with it as much as I have been with her best work. It does feel like a best of Charli as I can hear some of her previous eras throughout. Doesn't really sound like that much of a compromise at all. I've even come around to 1999 now.

Official is my current favourite. One of her best ballads.

i think it's too long and kind of a mess and not as good as pop 2 but yeah it's a good charli record

"thoughts," "white mercedes," "silver cross," "official" all great

lots of hooks buried exhausting sonics, somehow it's the same production sound as pop 2 just with the line between exciting and fatiguing very blurry. the opening retread of backseat chord progression and arrangement and then the fusillade of autotune vox feels bracing. also blame it on your love suxxxxxx so bad compared to the OG. that said i'll be listening again shortly!

Yeah, including Blame It On Your Love seems like a weird choice. I'm sure I read Charli saying that the record company were obsessed with it and thought it was going to be the hit. The original is so much better as you say. It's probably the only song I'd lose from the album at this point.

Loving this. Still haven't come around on "1999" and "Track 10">>>>>"Blame It On Your Love" (but I mean I don't skip it anyways). Everything else is class. "Next Level Charli" is a perfect opener.

Weirdly couldn't find the CD at the mall (Canada) so I ordered it on eBay.

We just got tickets to see her live in a couple of weeks. Even though I know there's zero chance of any Superlove, True Romance or Sucker I figured it will still be a fun night out.

i am next level jelly