Charli
British music is fortunate to have Charlotte Aitchison. A restless collaborator and denier of pop borders with an unteachable ear for a hook, she’s one of the UK’s proudest exports. Her third studio LP serves as a blueprint for how a modern pop album should sound. Audacious but introspective, it’s straining with potential hits and subtler moments fans will hold close. And then there’s the cast list. If she tires of this pop star business, a sterling career in A&R probably awaits. She talked through some of the album’s standout moments on her Beats 1 show The Candy Shop. **“Next Level Charli”** “I wrote this track for the Angels—my fans. This is the Angel anthem. Everything in this song is about things that I imagine my fans doing: driving to a party, getting ready for a party, playing their music in their Prius, whatever it is. This song is for you guys. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for supporting me.” **“Gone” (with Christine and the Queens)** “This is the bop. The song of the summer, if I don’t say so myself. Me, Christine, dancing on a car, rain: What more do you want? We literally gave you everything.” **“Cross You Out” (feat. Sky Ferreira)** “I’m so happy that we got to make this song together. This was one of the first songs that kind of came to reality for this album. I sent this over to Sky, she felt it and came into this studio in LA with \[co-writer\] Linus Wiklund. She sounds so amazing and I’m so happy because Sky and I have known each other for quite a few years now. We kind of came up together in many ways, and we’ve shared a lot of the same producers. We’ve been on the same magazine covers together, and you know, I feel like we were on Myspace at the same time! I think her voice is really important and what she does is brilliant.” **“2099” (feat. Troye Sivan)** “My favorite dreamboat, my dream boy: Troye Sivan. I’m just in love with him. I just think he’s so brilliant. After we made \[the 2018 single\] ‘1999’, I kind of knew he wanted to get a little bit weirder than we got, as I’d heard him mention that he was into \[Charli’s 2017 mixtape\] *Pop 2*. So after ‘1999’ came out, I hit him up again and said, ‘Should we just go there? Should we just go out of space? Like, let’s do a weird moment.’ And he was like, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’” **“Click” (feat. Kim Petras & Tommy Cash)** “I’m not going to lie—and no shade to any of the other artists on the album— but I kind of think Kim’s verse might be my favorite on the whole album. I remember when I originally sent Kim this song, I did a verse and it was so bad. She sent me her demo back and her verse *killed*, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I cannot put this song out with the verse I currently have.’ So I had to rerecord my thing, as Tommy had also sent me his and killed it, too. I was the weakest! It was bad! I love this song. It goes so hard. And Kim is still shining so bright on this song.” **“Warm” (feat. HAIM)** “This song is produced by A.G. Cook. He actually wrote a few of the melodies on this song, too. When we were making this song, we were working at \[Australian producer and DJ\] Flume’s studio in LA, and this was at the point where we thought we were still going to do a third mixtape. But then we had this song and a couple of ideas and were like, ‘Let’s just do the album. Now’s the time for the *Charli* album.’ When HAIM came to the studio house that I had rented in LA at the beginning of 2019, I had just had a lot of dental work done, so my whole mouth was super numb. I was dribbling; I couldn’t really speak. They were like, ‘What happened to you!’ It was a funny session, but the three of them came through. I’m so happy with the song.” **“White Mercedes”** “This is one of my favorite songs from the album. I guess it’s my version of a ballad.”
With adventurous production and revealing writing, Charli XCX’s third studio album reflects an artist ready to commit to self-examination.
The result of years of experimental, this album enlists established stars and emerging talents to create a work that is quintessentially Charli XCX
Charli sees our most visionary pop star continue to construct the music of the future
Across 15 songs and 50 minutes, Charli consistently matches the addictive, robotic bombast of Pop 2.
The opening track of Charli XCX’s third album is entitled Next Level Charli. It’s a statement of intent: this 15-track album is her most personal and mature record, while still maintaining the right balance of poppy party songs with which the 27-year-old singer (real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison) has made her name.
Her first official LP in five years gathers a fluid global dream team for a wild, joyously bummed-out set of avant-pop bangers.
During the five years between Sucker and her self-titled official third album, Charli XCX was busier than ever exploring the different sides of her music.
Returning to the studio with PC Music’s A.G. Cook, Charli XCX's new album is boundlessly liberating, decadently indulgent, and irresistibly danceable
It's taken Charli XCX five years to follow up her last proper studio album, 2014's Sucker. But the Charli that made that album is not the Ch...
Ever since her boundary-breaking 2016 EP, Vroom Vroom, Charli XCX has been a songwriter to watch.
No one would dare to call the music of Charlotte Aitchison minimalist. The artist better known as Charli XCX has spent the better part of the past decade gradually shifting the pop landscape.
Charlotte Aitchison has come a long way from Iggy Azalea’s 'Fancy'. It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since that song
Charli XCX escapes back to the future on Charli, a soupy pop album that features Christine & The Queens, Tommy Cash and Lizzo.
The embattled singer reveals her anxieties and coaxes brilliance from various guests in a candid, confident third album
Charli XCX would make a cracking mixtape. I mean that not in the hip hop culture sense - although she’s knocked out a few of those in the five years since the release of Sucker, her last album proper - but like the mixtapes you used to make for your friends and crushes.