Charli XCX

in a way it's nice this isn't another 80s synthpop pastiche. we've advanced a whole decade!

it is still not what i want from charli xcx and i suspect i'm not alone here

yeah it's not what i want either & nor is it great on its own merits but i like it more than the other two

well yeah, it's a more interesting thing to pastiche lol

The chorus sounds like like another song, I can't place it...

september - "cry for you", it's a direct sample

thx, i see (I've only heard that song in retail stores or whatever, didn't know artist or title)

that's basically the heart of the track, so...

https://www.twitter.com/gothjafar/status/1488309758545346560

That didn't embed properly

you already have a platform just make the fucking music? am i crazy https://t.co/Gz97QZxsVQ

— ༺𝒢𐀔𝒥༻ (@gothjafar) February 1, 2022

Charli acting like a bit of a diva here tbh, and not in a yasss way

well she did go thru a pile of shit over the album she scrapped, supposedly too avant. and then Pop 2 was her all time greatest for me. But HIFN was pleasingly out there, so … ?

HIFN is her defining statement so far imo

is she just trying to become as big as possible on this last atlantic deal record to strengthen her hand in any new contract negotiation?

which i kind of get but im not sure making boring music is a great strategy to becoming a superstar

Plenty of basics think her new singles are bangers tbf

AND WHO ARE WE TO ARGUE

Her reasoning in that tweet is nonsense though. If you wanna be a main pop girl just be one and don't try to justify it

All the singles sound pretty slight. When she said this was going to be a big pop album to satisfy her label, I (as a basic) was hoping that we'd be getting a return to the era of Boom Clap, I Love It, etc. But everything so far has been kinda sad and boring.

I assumed this album was going to be similar to the Charli era where she had obvious attempts at hits (1999, Blame It On Your Love and Gone) but then kept the weirder or more avant garde music (as Charli puts it) for the album. I ended up really loving Good Ones, but these two last singles have been her weakest in a long time. New Shapes is so flat and underwhelming considering the talent involved. I'm still looking forward to the album as she hasn't really missed yet (sorry Charli, Sucker is great) but compared to the last few albums, my enthusiasm isn't on the same level.

charli's "please help me game the system" schtick is a bit offputting, especially hand in hand with the shift into tawny kitaen fashion as a fairly obvious stab at attention getting

is she confused.... or iconic?

I know Charli isn’t in the boards good books right now, but I’ve quite enjoyed a lot about the recent singles, Baby in particular was one I knew I would like from the dlips posted months ago and almost lived up to my very high expectations. I’m a huge fan of stuff influenced by 80s pop so the stuff mining that period hits a sweet spot for me.

I saw the album has leaked now and it all hangs together well as a collection to me although maybe there’s a drop off towards the end. Of the new tracks Constant Repeat is maybe the most immediate new one on there and sounds like a potential future single. Lightning has a turbo-freestyle feel to it which I enjoyed. There’s maybe some overconfidence in stealing a lot from the Stonebridge remix of Robin S - Show Me Love on Used to Know Me which I don’t think quite pulls it off. Twice is a pleasant enough album closer, but I could do with something a little more daring at the end,

Overall, it’s a polished album and I’ll enjoy listening to it this year, but I’ll be hoping for more next time around.

I don’t care for the singles but I have tickets to the London gig and know it’s gonna be a fun time even if I don’t care for the new stuff. She’s always been hit & miss.

I’m going to start backtracking, this album is worming itself deeper into my brain the more I listen to it.

it's better than i expected from the lead-up, it's solid enough but still not really exciting or anything. at the very least "lightning" and the title track are quite cool

p4k claiming it's better than how i'm feeling now is totally ridiculous though lol

but there's still the feeling of it being a bit slight overall and she should be largely capable of better, even if she wanted to make something more conventional. she very rarely gives the ideas room to breathe even when they're good ones - that's why "lightning" is the best track

I’m a big fan of the classic ~30 minute pop album length and this nails that. I just wish the extended 12" mix of pop tracks would come back.

word

i think that’s one reason i like “rock Charli” - the songs feel loosey-goosey

I wanted to play Baby on my radio show but needed to take the fucks out, so I did do a quick and dirty re-edit and ended up extending it a bit. It’s starts around the 1 hour 33 minute mark if anyone is interested: https://soundcloud.com/1btn/inter-mission-11032022 (warning I had a couple too many beers before the show and you can tell). I would like to try and get into the habit of making some 80s style extended mixes of current pop tracks.

need to confirm you introduced it with "it's Charli, Baby"?

Lot going on here for a short album. Nice.

xp when you made that joke I was immediately reminded of how forlorn and emotional Pop 2 is, what a record. “Track 10” feels like the last message from a doomed human race if I play it late at night. It’s woven into such a specific time with my daughters, will always be my favourite.

Maffew12 I definitely missed a trick there.

Definitely more enjoyable in the album sequence than as a bunch of pre-release singles.

Favorites are Constant Repeat and the juxtaposition of Every Rule and Yuck.

Oh besides the new Rosalia, I also surprisingly like this one more than I anticipated.

Wait, why am I suddenly agreeing with p4k scores? I need to take a step back.

This album is in isolation fine. Its major flaw is HIFN's existence

It is perhaps SLIGHTLY better than I feared it'd be

it's obviously not anywhere near as good as pop 2 or how i'm feeling now but it is better than charli which i wasn't really expecting

I really like this. The singles I didn't rate before sound great to me now. As you say, ufo it's maybe not on the same level as her very best but I still like it a lot. All of her albums/mixtapes are good to great.

it's obviously not anywhere near as good as pop 2 or how i'm feeling now but it is better than charli which i wasn't really expecting

― ufo, Saturday, 19 March 2022 23:15 (seventeen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah, kinda where i'm at

i still think "good ones" is pretty meh but it's not actively bad so it doesn't drag down the album or anything. same with "new shapes", it's only mediocre, not bad enough to skip it.

i really wish "crash" and "twice" were longer because they're really good but so short (& "twice" is one of the longest tracks here!). "twice" would be perfect if it just went for it at the end, it just needs more catharsis. and "crash" is just excellent new jack swing, two minutes is nowhere near enough. if the whole album was as good as those (& "lightning") then it would have totally succeeded at what she was going for (except maybe at delivering her a hit? lol)

Gotta say every collab with Christine and the Queens sounds forced and lifeless to me.

Gone is a banger! Reminds me of this amazing moment at Brixton Academy a couple of years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALv5EnaXZbY

I have to admit Gone is pretty good

crash deluxe is out today with 4 new tracks and they're all quite good and better than a lot of the album lol

especially "how can i not know what i need right now"

I am looking forward to hearing this album

Banger out the gate

it's great and "twice" to me is amongst her best ever tracks. i'm hearing also that it's possible she could hit #1 in the UK and Australia this week which would be a real coup.

per upthread it's a pleasant surprise this has turned out better than Charli. I've played it a dozen times no skips. Only heard about the 4 more songs coming today. i guess i can hear them shortly if i stay awake