Crash but don't burn

 

Charli XCX — real name Charlotte Aitchison — is a 29-year old British popstar with no less than 5 albums and 46 singles to her name, as of last week. While that is already quite a mark, you know it’s just the beginning: over the past few years, the trajectory of this young and hot artist has been quite interesting to follow, because you can tell she’s resolutely doing her thing. On the one hand, she definitely embodies the sensual feminism of the Cardi B / Megan Thee Stallion crew, i.e. women who are more than ready to play on their sexual appeal to drive their point home. On the other hand, her music comes across as an interesting blend of electro / dance / pop à la Dua Lipa (a fellow rising Brit) or Ariana Grande. A sweet and somewhat experimental / vintage take that she clearly is into, to the point of making it trendy… Or trending, rather…

Same as you’d be surprised upon first listening to Pete Doherty’s output having only read about him in the tabloids, you would assume XCX will play along the lines of this highly effective US-born rap / RnB mix that is underlying much of today’s young singers’ style. And much of the work that today’s most iconic female voices embrace: take the aforementioned Cardi B, Doja Cat, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna… the list is extremely long — and storied. What is interesting with this young British singer, though, is that she instead chose a more poppy, dance-infused style that occasionally borders on retro. Take “Used to Know Me” on this new Crash album: it actually samples a classic 90’s dance track, Robin S.‘s “Show Me Love”. If that’s not a flashback to you, it means you are also young…

The fact that XCX chose to partner with Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek on one of the album’s biggest tracks, “New Shapes”, is more proof of that interesting stylistic choice that she’s making here. Christine (sometimes known as Chris) is notorious for single-handedly trying to resurrect 1980’s Michael Jackson vibes, albeit sung by a woman. Polachek, meanwhile, is a rising indie star who also likes to experiment with genres and eras. To be clear, we’re not saying that this album would ever get confused with a Philip Glass record: its energy, for one, is interestingly intense. Nervous, even: the singer manages to cram in 12 tracks in just over 30 minutes, all very much up tempo, as if this lady was in a hurry on her way to superstardom. And she very well might be…

All in all, this latest effort by Charli XCX is both interesting to listen to on a technical basis, and highly enjoyable if you want to get your groove on before going out. That is, if the kids still use that expression…