Charli XCX, the alien popstar: “I dream of a Lou Reed-style album”
That she was an unpredictable, unlabelable, uncategorisable pop star, allergic to any type of definition, was something fans already knew before the release of “Brat”, the album that made her famous. consecrated as one of the most influential artists of her generation. Charli XCX has spent her entire career – so far – self-sabotaging, constantly changing her style, register, sound, identity.
After “I love it”, the hit written together with Icona Pop that climbed the international charts between 2012 and 2013, she churned out a hyper-moody synth-pop album like “True romance”. However, after the hit with Iggy Azalea “Fancy”, which seemed to represent the appetizer of a possible exploit, Charlotte Emma Aitchison – this is the real name of the 31-year-old singer-songwriter from Essex – surprised everyone with a punk-inspired album like “Sucker”, in which she mocked the hitmakers of the pop scene. Before she had even had time to let her “Angels”, as her fans call themselves, her “Brat” had – also become a .fashion and lifestyle phenomenon: the acid green background of the cover has inspired new collections by brands such as Prada, Gucci and Fendi, while companies such as Amazon, Duolingo, Google and Netflix have ridden the hype, creating memes on the theme – which Charli XCX shuffles the deck again.
“I would like to make a Lou Reed-style record in a way, if I’m honest. That would certainly be a nice twist.“: the surprising preview comes from an interview just given by the pop star that the Guardian has elected as the anti-Taylor Swift – “Taylor Swift may have monopolized the charts, but Charli XCX has captured the zeitgeist”, headlined the prestigious British newspaper – she gave to Billboard in the US. Reflecting on the all-round success achieved with “Brat”, with which she managed to reconcile the public (in the United Kingdom the album reached second place in the best-selling charts in the country – probably if rival Taylor Swift, smelling the possible success of her colleague, had not decided to hastily assemble a deluxe version of her “The tortured poets department”, Charli would have overtaken her) and critics (according to data from Metacritic, a portal that aggregates the scores of international reviews, “Brat” is the best-reviewed album of all those released in 2024 so far, ahead of Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” and “Hit Me Hard and Soft” by Billie Eilish), Charli XCX tried to imagine what could be his future. And he talked about his short-term plans.
The British diva has revealed that she will soon spend a few weeks in Poland to work on a mysterious movie: “We’ll write it and shoot it at the same time, it’ll be a bit like making an album”, said the artist, who two years ago made a cameo in an episode of the TV series “Gossip Girl” and has a particular feeling with sets. In 2016, he directed the video clip for “I, U, Us” by Raye: he enjoyed it so much that he decided to self-direct the video clip for “Boys” as well, returning behind the camera again for the clips of “Phases” by Alma and French Montana, “Dirty sexy money” with David Guetta and Afrojack, “Win” by Nasty Cherry and his own “1999”.
When it comes to what musical direction she might take after “Brat,” Charli said: “It might be nice if I stopped making music after ‘Brat’. I’m thinking about it, because now I want to act.. I can’t see past ‘Brat,’ but I’m enjoying it.” Meanwhile, on September 14, the “Brat” tour will kick off in Detroit, Michigan, and it promises to be full of surprises and twists. After a long series of dates in the US, the tour will land in Europe in November, for four shows all hosted in the United Kingdom, in Manchester (November 27), London (November 28), Birmingham (November 29) and Glasgow (December 2).
