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ALBUM REVIEW: 'Charli' by Charli XCX

This year has been fantastic for pop music - Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Lana Del Ray have all released killer albums that have been on repeat for me on the regular. Charli XCX was not on my radar at all until I heard the absolute anthem that is 'Gone', a track that will almost certainly be on my end of year list of favourite singles. It was then that I began to take notice of her, and I am incredibly pleased that I did, because Charli blows the other major pop albums of the year out of the water, in my humble opinion.

'Next Level Charli' kicks things off in the best possible way, introducing us to the cocktail of classic 80s pop and forward thinking post-modernity that comes to define the rest of the album. And don't get it wrong, this is a pop album. It's not setting out to reinvent the wheel, it's not trying to rewrite the rulebooks for what music should sound like. But what it does do is redefine how pop music and culture collide with creativity and invention. There is a healthy balance of danceable tracks that are right at home in the current pop landscape - the aforementioned 'Gone' and 'Next Level Charli', '1999' featuring Troye Sivan, and 'Blame It On Your Love' which features the wonderful Lizzo - with a handful of ballads - 'White Mercedes' and the gorgeous 'Official' are the pick of these - and a few tracks where the uncompromising creativity and experimentation that runs through the whole album crystallises in the form of tracks like 'Click' featuring Kim Petras and Tommy Cash and 'Shake It', which manages to fit Big Freedia, CupcakKe, Brooke Candy and Pabllo Vittar in the same song without feeling overstuffed or overblown. It all wraps up with '2099', once again featuring Troye Sivan, which is the perfect bookend with 'Next Level Charli', somehow embracing the three major elements of the album in one cohesive sign off that might just be signalling the future of pop music.

It is rare that I don't have anything negative to say about an album, but it seems like Charli is one of those. The production is in parts shimmering and beautiful, and in other parts dissonant and aggressive, but always deep and nuanced, rewarding repeated listens. If you are into vinyl I would recommend finding this too, because the nuance and detail becomes even more pronounced (at least on the pressing I bought). If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that not only a pop album, but a Charli XCX album, would be a contender for my album of the year I wouldn't have believed them. In fact, I probably would have said "Charli who?" But here we are.

Rating: A+

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