Charli XCX

sucker got delayed from early october to mid december in the us, and all the way to february in europe (to add a few more tracks & add rita ora to "doing it" to try to get another hit out of it). it did ok but seems like classic label mismanagement, she had real traction and reasonably big hits with "boom clap", "break the rules" and "fancy", but then in the four months between "break the rules" and the album's us release they only released a few promo singles that they barely gave a push at all. even the successful "doing it" remix in the lead up to the uk release didn't seem to help that much, & they didn't bother to give it a us push at all.

but it's also just not a very good album, "doing it" is the only track i have any lasting fondness for.

The UK album chart also works fairly differently to when Sucker came out. The streaming focus is part of an even faster turnaround and bigger focus on the new, and that helps more acts to reach #1 once they are above a certain level, at least for a week. Adele and Olivia Rodrigo were the only albums to spend more than one week in a row at #1 last year.

yeah obviously the more direct comparison is with charli, both for charts methodology & point-in-her-career reasons.

aus #1 confirmed now

the added tracks... are not up to the rest!

remember she was talking 2 more albums coming soon after HIFN?

anyway glad she can make some deals with leverage now

UK #1. we did it angels!

really like this album

baby and beg for you both great

UK #1. we did it angels!

― maf you one two (maffew12)

I feel a bit emotional seeing this. It's so well deserved. She's been so consistently brilliant for almost ten years now.

the way the spanish guitar is deployed in "lightning" has real "getting away with it" vibes, probably why i've taken to it so much

Charli XCX on Her Best, Hardest, and Most Mainstream Music

“It’s like, the second I started saying ‘main pop girl’ online, everyone was coming for me,” Charli says. “I was like, ‘Do you know who you stan? Obviously I’m going to deliver you something iconic. Don’t doubt me.’”

no i think it's just because the early singles weren't great lol. if she'd started the rollout stronger i think the fanbase would have been very onboard from the start but as it was "good ones" was slight & perfunctory and wasn't really good as a charli track or as a big sell-out pop move

& her constantly getting mad at fans on twitter who were underwhelmed by the album campaign just made them more annoyed lol

good read though

pic.twitter.com/iVduj5p8ko

— @FckyeahCharli / Charli XCX Updates Media (@fckyeahcharliHD) March 27, 2022

this is the sort of trolling of her fans that's good though (playing unreleased tracks she's long-refused to officially release over the pa after her show)

extremely obviously her best since pop 2

You didn't like How I'm Feeling Now?

it was fine

who are you and what have you done with Brad?

Damn, that might be the coldest review of HIFN I've ever read.

these are the songiest charli songs in a minute so i could be reacting to that

Oh yeah, they definitely have that going for them.

the notion that HIFN was not 'songy' is violence

this is a decent, competently-made pop album, HIFN was a singular seizing of the moment and work of timeless brilliance

you are a work of timeless exhaustion

i am literally terrified that you'll declare the new Mitski her best too now

i haven't enjoyed a mitski album since puberty 2

BRAD

"lightning" gonna make me return to my "flamenco drop" dn

ok i can feel that on Mitski

need to give this a proper shot but the Rosalia album is fully occupying my recent pop album bandwidth rn

first and last tracks were my favorite at first blush. love the little elements of "love come down" and "outstanding" that creep into "crash," and "twice" has this fluttery melody that won't leave my head.

what's not "songy" on hifn, just "pink diamond"?

don't really understand liking pop 2 but not hifn

If I were to guess, Pink Diamond, I Finally Understand, C2.0, Party 4 U...

it was a broad claim i have no interest in explaining

I recommend pounding Anthems at brain-melting volume until it snaps into focus.

but it's also just not a very good album, "doing it" is the only track i have any lasting fondness for.

dude i’m RIGHT HERE.

Anyone else going to the gig tonight? Or this tour?

Really excited, not been to any gig since pre pandemic!

Not going tonight, but going to the one in Norwich on Saturday, very excited.

I saw an amazing video of someone throwing the trans flag with Princess Di's face on it at the stage

It was fun. Only some small criticisms: A bit too much new album or singles I don’t care for (crowd went insane for 1999) and not enough of the era I love. Dunno if she needed 30 outfit changes either, kinda would slow the momentum.

she iconic tho.

still playing Crash a lot. Do i like it more than Pop 2?!?!?!!! Maybe. How I'm Feeling Now is the best.. but not gonna replay it this much.

Currently can't get enough of Beg For You, particularly the end

Rina: [vocal acrobatics]
Charli: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

perfection

Concert last week was so much fun, and the audience absolutely lapped up the whole show.

omg that Alexandria Palace setlist rules!

ok pretty much the same at Norwich and wherever. aaa so jealous

ok "Forever" or "Anthems" would've gone a long way

About a week after going to the gig I heard “Move Me” again and it reminded me how incredible the performance on the night was – spellbindingly so – and I’ve been a little bit obsessed with the song since.

show at a local festival over the weekend was great!

she's playing here the same day i already have a ticket to see pavement

and i love charli way more than pavement but charli will probably be back in a few years while pavement won't ugh

does your username come from the fact WA might as well be in space sometimes lol

search within yourself, the quandary will resolve

i've never been to WA so i wouldn't know

I've been to paradise but I've never been to WA

This bump reminds me that being a Gen Xer who laments for the days of the 80s extended mix of singles, I am very grateful for people like ben. who have been making edits of the tracks from Crash.

Here’s Constant Repeat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFR-BLxNneI

But they have done extended edits of the whole album if you investigate their channel, and I wish this was more of a standard thing.

And, here’s the plug bit, I played this mix in my best of 2022 show here: https://soundcloud.com/1btn/inter-mission-09122022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awe3m4yVeT4