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Kristina Blagojev | Posted on September 18, 2019
shot by Marcus Cooper
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
I’m sure you’ve heard of the song Boom Clap before. It came out as a promotional single in the summer of 2014 for the movie The Fault In Our Stars. Along with Fancy (which is actually by Iggy Azalea), it was considered one of Charli XCX’s breakout songs. After releasing Boom Clap, she came out with her second album later that year, titled Sucker. Since then, she hasn’t released any full-length albums — just two mixtapes and an EP. That is, until September 13, 2019.
New Release: Charli by Charli XCX
shot by Marcus Cooper
Charli is known for her innovative and adventurous pop music. But as Jessica Herndon for Spin Magazine wrote, Charli is not just another pop statistic. She begins her first full-length album in five years with Next Level Charli, which in the title alone, elaborates that this project is light years beyond anything she’s ever done before. And, she’s right.
By the time you get to track 7, Thoughts, she’s already had six more features, including Christine and the Queens on Gone, Sky Ferreira on Cross You Out, Troye Sivan on 1999 (and later on 2099), Kim Petras and Tommy Cash on Click, and Haim on Warm. Some listeners would feel overwhelmed by the number of features, however, I thought that it was really unique of her to add so many other people to her project. The idea may be popular among rappers, but the concept of having a variety of features on a project for a pop star isn’t actually super common.
This makes her solo songs on the album all the more personal. With her signature synths in the background and her voice heavily autotuned while she’s singing, Charli sings about heartbreaks, new love, and everything in between.
Charli by Charli XCX really is nothing less than what you would expect from a pop star in 2019. This album is great for someone who is still trying to figure out what kind of music they like — it’s a good mix between mainstream pop music and avant-garde pop music, which isn’t as popular. If you are looking for some good pop music, but want to up your repertoire, this album is for you.