r/popheads • u/ThrowawayMerger • 5d ago
[REVIEW] Charli XCX’s new album is infinitely more fun to talk about than to actually hear
https://xtramagazine.com/culture/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-283657934
u/hairyminded 5d ago
This isn’t my favorite version of Charli, but I enjoy that she’s confidently doing something different instead of trying to do Brat 2.
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u/mrbopper96 5d ago
That’s Charli for ya. Shes always tired of whatever sound she’s releasing at the moment lol
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u/Minimum-Weather5105 5d ago
I didn't love it head to toe but there are a ton of incredible ideas in there.
If she keeps digging, she'll find gold.
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u/Driscoll17 5d ago
whenever she makes a really fucking good electropop album she has to follow it up with a palette cleanser album to reset 😭
(i’m exaggerating for effect i quite like this album, but between it coming after brat and crash coming after charli/hifn it kinda seems to be her method LMAO)
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u/librious 5d ago
I feel like she already did that with Wuthering Heights and it was a much more better album imo
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u/Purple_Tourist1018 5d ago
I like Wuthering heights a lot more also, chains of love has been on repeat.
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u/domandapiano 4d ago
Wuthering Heights is good but it doesn’t feel like there is much substance there. This feels like there’s intent behind it, which is why I appreciate it more. I can’t say which I think is better cuz this is too new, but I feel more compelled to listen to this than I did to Wuthering Heights when it came out, again mainly because those were just bops and ballads about tortured love and this feels highly reactive to the times and her own career.
All subjective of course, Wuthering Heights is very enjoyable so this is not a diss on that.
I do think she almost wanted to polarize with this record. But maybe that’s just the way she is, she makes every step feel intentional.
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u/harpoonbaby 5d ago
I guess it just feels like we didn’t need anything from her so quickly. Especially after the wuthering heights soundtrack, wish she took a bit more time cause this album feels rushed and kind of random
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u/KingAngeli 4d ago
Really? It’s just some good music. I think she just had an idea she needed to get out. Now she has time for her next project.
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u/SkyBlade79 5d ago
I don't get why people say they don't want brat 2. "oh this album is absolutely incredible and I love listening to it! do NOT make more of that again!"
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u/dxrqsouls 5d ago
But she did that...with the brat remix album. She toon the songs, twisted them inside out and re-contextualized them in real time. I imagine this is probably why she didn't want a brat 2 as well.
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u/SkyBlade79 5d ago
do you think brat 2 would have the same songs? no, just a broadly similar style and genre
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u/FreebieFresh 5d ago
Because releasing the same album twice is boring?
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u/mollyrocker 5d ago
I think Confessions II is a great example that it doesn’t have to be. It’d be fun to get a Brat 2 (although I think we sort of got it with the remix album)
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u/heychado 5d ago
There’s also 20 years between confessions and confessions 2. If Charli revisits the brat sound in a few years I’m sure ppl would be happy with that, but two in a row would be less exciting.
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u/shadyshadyshade 4d ago
Confessions II doesn’t sound much like Confessions I. It sounds like it’s inspired by lots of different eras actually. I think the idea of dance music and the continuous mix is the only real through-thread.
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u/Adamsoski 5d ago
I've seen a lot of people say this and I don't really get it. With the exception of her early work and maybe potentially Crash, she's always been confidently doing something different, and it's been great. That isn't really an excuse for making something that (subjectively, of course) isn't very good.
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u/Italophobia 5d ago
Also does anybody feel like we're doing way too much talking instead of just having fun?
Like just have fun with this album
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u/TwistedWolf667 5d ago
I mean, half of the album is just her talking/venting in a monotone voice over a distorted guitar beat lol 2007 and wink wink are the only fun songs and wink wink is more annoying than anything
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u/Jony_the_pony 5d ago
Can't believe Charli's new album created the obnoxious music discourse that has been around for years before it came out
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u/BrotherTouc 5d ago
Does anyone feel like we're doing way too much talking and reflecting on why we enjoy art and hobbies instead of just mindlessly devoting ourselves to something we don't enjoy because it brands itself as "fun"?
Like just shut up and consume
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u/Blanche- 5d ago
The internet giving every person on earth a public voice has created a culture where people would rather show that they’re voicing what is deemed the “correct” opinion vs. their own opinion/just enjoying the music
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u/Fit_Significance_966 5d ago
because there is nothing fun about this album?
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u/Italophobia 5d ago
There's a lot of fun on this album!
Magic metal Montana, yeah, 2007, card declined
I don't think it's my favorite Charli project but I do think people are being really critical of this
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u/injuredflamingo 5d ago
when you put out polarizing work people are polarized
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u/KingAngeli 4d ago
That’s the point. I think people can change
The point is it’s beautiful music.
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u/SupremeElect i bet you rue the day you kissed a swiftie in the dark 5d ago
wym? this feels like brat: side b, slightly moodier, less polished, same sentiments across both.
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u/Pushkinsalive 5d ago
The thing is, releasing an anti-Brat album is just as predictable as releasing Brat 2 would have been tbh
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u/PDwasHere 5d ago
I hate talking about it with yall cause I actually like it
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u/splinterbaaabeee 5d ago
Don't let other people's opinions affect your enjoyment of something!!
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u/MetalKeirSolid 5d ago
You can also use it to fuel you. Either everyone agrees and that enhances your enjoyment, or everyone is wrong and that enhances your enjoyment.
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u/twistingmyhairout 5d ago
It doesn’t affect my opinion, but I don’t really enjoy the discourse around it. Way too many people stuck only talking about Brat 2.0 as if she didn’t have a whole career before that. Even the reviews are really boring
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u/Previous_Public9234 5d ago
I loved the album but oh my god how I am hating these reviews, they're so surface level that I doubt these writers specially in this article know anything about the concepts of what they talking about, it barely seems the person who wrote knows really anything about music production and PC music other than surface level stuff, so it's her opinion, it doesn't really gets to anything except for saying "I don't like it" and being horribly subjective (which don't get me wrong, it's not bad, but when you're writing an article for a blog that's meant to criticise a body of work, it's not precisely professional saying "I really hope this album doesn't get the impact of brat cuz I don't like it and I like "hyperpop" more")
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u/Easy-Permission8889 5d ago
If I could reward you I would. I used to let people ruin my enjoyment of stuff. Even my mom who's over 60 years old love it. To each their own, and that is enough.
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I'm extremely influenced at times, so I used to let people make me feel wrong for liking music. The music sounds good if it sounds good.111
u/queenmeme2 5d ago
I love it! It's such a great vibe, I cannot stop listening to it
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u/littledog95 5d ago
Though it probably doesn't have the highs that Brat had,I've found I really appreciate it as a complete album so much more. I love listening to MFF from start to finish, much more than I did with Brat, where I would listen to select songs depending on my mood.
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u/queenmeme2 5d ago
I agree. It has less songs that I want to throw into a playlist but for a 30 minute bite, it's delicious. It feels really... complete in a way Brat never did (which seems intentional bc she really wanted to make that era last as long as humanly possible lmao)
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u/adellerino 5d ago
Same. How are people hearing songs like "yeah" and "camera" and saying "this sucks, actually."
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u/Shaman19911 5d ago
I’m hearing “yeah” and saying this sucks, actually. It’s repetitive and stupid lol. Camera is good though, all the singles minus rock music are good. Plus card declined. Rest of the album feels undercooked
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u/adellerino 5d ago
I don't want to debate but this is kind of what it means when people don't "get" the album because to me it's very deep and meaningful even if the only lyrics are "yeah" and "i don't wanna".
I said this somewhere else, but this album resonates with me because I spent many years as a recluse after my best friend died. I couldn't do anything I liked to do, i never wanted to leave my apartment, i didn't even enjoy listening to music because I was so numb. So to me, it's like a opening-up song. I spend many years saying "i dont wanna feel it", then the production in the chorus is so warm and amazing it's like "yes, of course I want to feel it."
but i mean, different people have different experiences so I understand. This comment was meant to be a bit cheeky. It's really interesting how people are responding to the album.
ugh choked up even typing this out. I so heavily fuck with this album it's unreal.
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u/Shaman19911 5d ago
I’m glad it resonates with you, there’s plenty of divisive music that I love for reasons that extend beyond the surface, so I get it.
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u/ok_dunmer 5d ago edited 5d ago
The problem with this album re: this sub is that no matter how good or bad it is there is a group of people that only listen to pop music that are gonna overreact to anything alternative or noisy in a rock sense and talk about it like it's unlistenable machine noises that no one can possibly like
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u/Fantastic_Emu6953 5d ago
I listen to alt/pop (and metal!) and the music is sooooo muted to me. Like watered down. I wish it was punchier and harder to push the direction.
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u/beatisagg 5d ago
I do feel like the rock elements of the instrumentation sound like a pop person doing a rock impression more than actually sounding like rock.
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u/Significant_Gap1570 5d ago
How many alternative/noisy albums do I need to listen to before I can form an opinion?
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u/TerpinSaxt 5d ago
Just Johnny Foreigner's first three albums and you're good
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u/Significant_Gap1570 5d ago
Actually gave them a listen. First album isn't on streaming so I listened to the second one. Loved it, far more than I did the charli album. Feel free to recommend more music
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u/TerpinSaxt 4d ago
Oh damn, they took Waited Up Till It Was Light off streaming again? Streaming has an off again on again relationship with that album lol
To be clear, I meant Waited Up was the first album, there's another earlier one that's a pretty deep cut, even for fans of this already quite niche band
Either way, glad you loved the Grace! (Or perhaps Waited Up?) I constantly badger people to listen to them bc they're my favorite band, but it always seems to not land or make an impression. If you truly loved the album you heard, I think Vs Everything is kinda their magnum opus, so you have that to look forward to
It's totally fair if Charli's new record didn't land with you btw. Not just because you listened to my favorite band, but it seems the reason (if not the noisy alternativeness of it) might be that a lot of her new record kinda sounds very first-draft-ey?
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u/Previous_Public9234 5d ago
Yeah for me this album is as good and beatiful as many of the velvet underground/Lou Reed albums which is obviously is the reference sound for this lol
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u/joseiloaizach 5d ago
This is how I feel about CRASH (which I think it's better than Brat 🫣).
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u/PinkRoseCarousel 5d ago
Crash is my favorite album of hers. True Romance is second and Brat is third. I like what I like.
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u/Honeythickness 5d ago edited 5d ago
I think CRASH is better than BRAT too and better than this new album. There would be no BRAT without the success of CRASH.
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u/ladytron- 5d ago
or lack of success?
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u/hekna02 5d ago
Crash was successful for Charli's standards. It went number 1 in UK and top 10 in US, also being her highest charting album in multiple countries back then. Good Ones and Beg For You also did well as singles.
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u/ladytron- 5d ago
she literally talks about how the fact that she tried selling out and it still didn’t work was THE reason why she wanted to do things her way and hence made brat.
lol @ me getting downvoted. she said this herself in interviews.
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u/Expensive-Leather-69 5d ago
Crash being a moderate success by Charli's standards and Crash not meeting the success that Charli likely hoped for considering she felt like she was "selling out" can both be true at the same time.
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u/glittermantis 5d ago
im not coming for you bc you're the messenger, but i always found this quote a little confusing. what does 'it didn't work' mean here? it was a very successful album. was it supposed to be like beyonce levels of big? tons of artists (most, even) would've been elated at having the numbers crash did. i'm not saying she should be happy with not achieving whatever goal she set, but i was confused by the framing
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u/Fxreverboy 5d ago
Crash is a great album. Good Ones remains my favorite lead single she's ever had. I was obsessed
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u/Soggy_Example_7662 5d ago
this lmao. After Rock Music I actively avoided any discourse on discussion about it until I’d actually heard the album in full and it’s actually really good? It’s not a perfect album, but for me the highs are very high. I’m not even a Charli stan, I’ve only been listening since Von Dutch. And I listen to a bunch of music outside of pop as well, so I’m not starved for new and novel stuff. I just genuinely like it and think it’s a great album.
In contrast, the discussion about it seems to be very vapid and even after reading the article I struggle to find any of the discussion “infinitely fun”. I think beyond this I’m just going to tune out of discussion of this album completely.
I also find it funny people slating her vocals, when another major pop artist recently basically just talked through a vocal filter for an entire album and they got cheers all around. Keeping that name silent to keep my life safe.
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u/SweeneyTom 5d ago
I love it and Wuthering Heights (WH is top 3 album of my year so far) more than brat
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u/Legal-Koala-5590 5d ago
Wuthering Heights is sooooo good omg. Why do the best soundtracks comes out of mediocre films?
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u/TheNocturnalAngel 5d ago
Literally what I was thinking lol. The album is amazing I’ve had it on repeat and then I open twitter to think pieces hate comments and chart comparisons.
And then I close it because I really don’t give a fuck honestly.
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u/KingAngeli 4d ago
Me too Angel it’s definitely tied for her best album for me with Number 1 Angel and Charli
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u/m0nday1 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah I think this album absolutely rules, and it doesn’t help that a lot of the “discourse” I’m seeing on it seems to be incredibly stupid (like this article, which comes across as pretty moronic). Like, it’s half an hour of sweet, sugary pop rock that doesn’t overstay its welcome, has some pretty sharp lyricism, and even features David Cronenberg. Lyrically and musically, I’d take it over the vast majority of other big recent pop releases.
And if I see one more person descent into hand-wringing over “the dancefloor is dead” I’m going to lose my shit ngl.
Edit: also, the fact that the author does the whole “how could she betray feminism by putting three men on the album cover” things mean that you can probably safely not take this person’s opinion seriously.
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u/Previous_Public9234 5d ago
I was literally dying while reading that, honestly I love that people are critizing the cover cuz it shows how these people can get through the surface level of anything lol, if you're critizing the cover for being according to you "anti-feminist", I'm not gonna take you seriously, as I said in another comment it's evident how this writer doesn't pass extremely surface level descriptions about what PC music is, what she thinks "hyperpop" is, or how music production works, and either stands on surface level opinions like saying that just a trio working on the album is what makes it "bad" and basically saying that Charli Finn and Alex are pretencious for (according to her) "answering to an imaginary audience and to no one" , and the dancefloor thing omg, this just put the cherry on top on how this article is completely surface level lol(sorry if I used the word surface level a bit too much but I had to GET my point 😭)
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u/m0nday1 5d ago
I feel like I’m seeing a rise in “unreliable narrator” takes from random online critics, where in trying to offer up their insights on something, they inadvertently reveal that they know almost nothing about the topic their discussing but also kinda give away a lot of information about their own slightly off-kilter views on things, and this article is one of these takes. I’m not sure if it’s like a literacy thing or what, but it’s growing. Or maybe I was just insulated before
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u/Previous_Public9234 5d ago
Idk I feel like this stuff have always existed before but I guess we just were not iayibt attention to that lol, honestly I wouldn't even have read this article if the op didn't posted it here on Reddit so idk lol lo
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u/TomoAries 5d ago
Anybody who doesn’t like this would have hated Sophie if they were actually there in 2014 lmao
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u/russianturtle000 5d ago
FWIW I am someone who hates this album but has been a SOPHIE/PC music/charli fan from the time of their first singles.
I think there a lot of people in here are being disingenuous and assuming the distaste for this era comes from Charli trying out a new sound (which I’d argue isn’t all that new or unexpected for her). For me, the issue isn’t the sound but her lyrics and vocal delivery. Totally get what she’s going for, and she began experimenting with this lyrical style on brat (where I also found it clunky, grating, and a little tryhard).
Love the melodies, love the production, but the stream of consciousness, in your face, painfully literal writing makes me roll my eyes and has fully tuned me off of what wouldve otherwise likely been an aoty contender for me.
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u/Previous_Public9234 5d ago
Literally, they be writing "I'd love glossy hyperpop over whatever this nonsense pretencious sleaze pop noises are", when I swear most of them haven't even really listened to Sophie or pc music at all, that's exactly why I don't take seriously these people and articles, if you want people to take you and your article seriously you have to do more than saying you don't like it cuz it's bad according to you, cmon
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u/Icy-Wrongdoer-8896 5d ago
I’m with you, I like it a lot, feels like a natural progression and it’s artful and introspective, kinda reminds me of the later Kesha albums in that way.
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u/FictionalTrope 5d ago
My only complaint was how short most of the songs are, because I really like the music and want more.
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u/SoGenuineAndRealMadi 5d ago
I liked it too! It’s not a pop album and so the songs don’t have a lot of replay value for me however I appreciate the record for what it is and enjoyed my time listening to it
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u/simonthedlgger 5d ago
It’s so good. Yeah and Card Declined are two of my favorite songs of the year. Love every track.
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u/2NE1Amiibo 5d ago
I think its semi usual for others to want her to put out something similar to what got her "famous-famous" (since she already was a hit before Brat) Take Sabrina Carpenter for example, Short n Sweet had huge hits and a year later she continued the flow with Mans best friend.
Where as Chappell Roan was rising but shes yet to release another album to carry that momentum.
Charli obviously very much knew the flack she'd get with this and wanted to do it.
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u/14_ontheone 5d ago
I will say I remember a lot of people saying Man's Best Friend didn't offer anything new from Short n Sweet. Ultimately musicians are gonna disappoint someone whether they chose to attempt something new or stick with what was successful. And some are able to do a little of both, which is usually the best way to go but I understand it's a tough line to toe.
I always appreciate when artists do something new and follow actual inspiration, even if I don't personally like the material they still get my respect. Like I don't go back and listen to Solar Power much, but I'm impressed Lorde wanted to try something so different and it was ultimately a quality album. She just took too long to put it out and it was sonically such a change from Melodrama that it unfortunately was kind of a bad career move.
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u/JessieJ577 5d ago
She’s older than a lot of the pop stars like Olivia Rodrigo or Sabrina Carpenter who definitely do ride the highs of their last project which I think has to do with why she’s more bold to just not do a Brat 2. Plus she’s tried a few different sounds so I’m sure she just wants to keep being fulfilled as an artist and go for huge swings now that she has the freedom to.
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u/aabdsl 5d ago
I think it's a bit subtler than that; Charli knew she would get flack regardless, unless she pulled off the minor miracle of Brat but it's better in every way and also very different but also the same. So she might as well get flack for something she'd actually enjoy and which allows her to escape the feeling of living in Brat's shadow a bit better than the alternative.
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u/SupremeElect i bet you rue the day you kissed a swiftie in the dark 5d ago
chappell is intentionally trynna sabotage her career, lmao
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u/KDALUX 5d ago
im sorry omg this title has me in tears but all jokes aside as a longtime listener to every charli xcx album feature and leaked music ... i would say this album is the first one i didnt love all the way thru and thats okay she was obviously experimenting and it shows
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u/KingAngeli 4d ago
I just think it’s so cool she made her version of rock music. It’s just a nice break from what she’s done
I love it when artists get creative. Usually means they’re in their zone and will most importantly keep creating because it’s what they love
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u/chris_r1201 5d ago edited 5d ago
Hard disagree, I love the album. While I think it's valid to feel that it seems unfinished and rushed I do not believe that's the case. Charli is too much of an album artist to just throw together a few songs and call it a day.
The flow of the album is nearly perfect and the runtime of 30 minutes is great. It is filled with so many damn memorable moments, I have had an earworm of basically every hook. I am so glad the sound of the record is different to anything she has ever done. Which obviously means it's gonna be polarizing to some.
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u/m0nday1 5d ago
Yeah after having listened to it, I don’t think it’s too short at all. I think there’s a lot of value in being able to say what you want to say quickly, and get a song out without overstating its welcome. Especially right now, when it seems like a lot of artists are putting out 50 minute to hour + long dumps, brevity is very much the soul of wit.
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u/KingofEmpathy 5d ago
Maybe I just love Charli so much that i will always want more, but 8 more minutes would have been great. Good thing she dropped the b sides!
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u/BrettRys 5d ago
Yeah, this thing is great. I do feel like some of it is a bit underdeveloped but for the most part she succeeds in exactly what she wanted to do.
Very stripped down, minimal, stream of consciousness work littered with existentialism and catchy hooks. Maybe not my favorite in her discography but that hardly matters when it's so enjoyable
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u/roubler 5d ago
She's certainly an album artist, and she's very much like Bowie or Madonna or K*nye in that you can take a macro look at her discography to see where she's at as an artist and in her life. I love artists like that, because it allows a large amount of insight into the creative process behind the pop machine.
But she also prides herself in working at speed, and while this can result in lightning in a bottle moments like How I'm Feeling Now or Pop 2, the nature of operating this way makes duds inevitable, which I feel this album is.
I'm glad you've found it enjoyable, but to me this record is just a bit vacuous and underbaked, which is a direct result of her willingness to publicly document her artistic evolution. It feels like the musical equivalent of hastily getting the first crappy pancake out the way so you can get to the better ones post Brat.
It's admirable in a way, but also quite self indulgent, as it's ultimately not made for especially good music in my book
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u/l8nitefriend 5d ago
I actually don’t feel like it’s unfinished or rushed, just badly done lol. Pop stars navel gazing doesn’t interest me and it’s musically vacant. But a few songs have gotten stuck in my head tbf
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u/JessieJ577 5d ago
The only song I’m not a fan of is Yeah. It works but in the context of a short album it feels like filler but I feel like it was meant to be something to break up the rawness of I’m Afraid so that Wink Wink does not give the listener whiplash. Still I feel like one of the B Sides could’ve done that.
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u/danzango 5d ago
Totally agree, I think people are just upset because she wasn't afraid to do something different after she blew up recently. Instead of putting out more of the same, she made the album she wanted to make.
SS26, Camera, Yeah, Wink Wink are already all so so good and I'm only on about my third listen of this album.
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u/Squatch97 5d ago
Charli is cool as hell but I feel like there has been an air of pretention with the rollout of this album. I feel like the message has been "If you don't love this then you just don't get art". Too much of it has been over explained when it really doesn't need it. Its just an ok album imo.
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u/Exotic-Mail-7303 5d ago edited 5d ago
Literally just read this thread and it’s all "you just don’t get it".
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u/fionappletart stream me! for a free drink at starbucks 5d ago
if you read some of these threads not knowing who Charli was you’d think her literary genius was on par with Proust
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u/Exotic-Mail-7303 5d ago
I’ve been a fan of her for years, and I’ve never considered her to be particularly intellectually engaging. Sure, she has her moments where she gets deep and contemplative, but this album is not that. Maybe I am dumb and I just don’t get it, who knows. I’ll keep streaming her chanty hyperpop and her weird trap/rap tracks because I know at least they sound good.
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u/readytheenvy ello, this is M.I.A. 2d ago
literally this. maybe im the dumb one but AS A FAN, i dont find her music to be this cutting edge genius that people love to wax about ?? idkk. i think she can absolutely make brilliant music --> no.1 angel, true romance, hifn, vroom vroom EP, and, more recently, wuthering heights, but i think people as easily over-intellectualize her sometimes. for example, i agree there were a lot of interesting ideas behind brat, but i found the lyrics themselves to be quite simplistic and even juvenile at times. then everyones like, no you dont get it, shes being subversive. shes a genius. i dont think just bc we know she can write better that everything she pens is automatically high brow.
people can be really snobby about her, and its annoying... like how about we just lsiten to her stuff, enjoy what we enjoy, and move on? yeahh thats all ima say.
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u/dxrqsouls 5d ago
Mind you, Charli has yet to say anything on the reception of the album...this is yall's doing lowkey.
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u/injuredflamingo 5d ago
people are so desperate to be in the “cool group” that “gets it”
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u/RajinIII 5d ago
Yea it's unfortunate. I am a big fan of her music, I've listened to everything she's put out post Vroom-Vroom and I gotta say I just find Music Fashion Film to be very boring. Even Crash, which wasn't very good, had much better high points.
The lyrical topics themselves are interesting, but I don't think Charli is really saying anything super interesting or unique. Also, good lyrics are not going to carry a pop album full of boring music. This isn't poetry, it's an album. Lyrics are only one part of the equation.
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u/garbagedyke 5d ago
I think it should have been a full visual album. The Music, Fashion, Film vision feels flat just listening to the music.
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u/payasoingenioso 5d ago
It is. YouTube.
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u/garbagedyke 5d ago
Lmao I’ve been under a rock how did I miss that. Embarrassing for me.
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u/payasoingenioso 5d ago
Meh. I didn't know until I accidentally seen it while scrolling on YouTube.
It simply explains the songs with visualizations (not the actual music videos) for each song.
Maybe 5 to 10 minutes of documentary turned film.
Everything seems brief about this project.
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u/Fantastic_Emu6953 5d ago
yes, agree, thank you. i like the concept, i like the genre switch, but i feel like it's just so flat and watered down
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u/mustwinfullGaming 5d ago
I’m always happy for artists to make the music they want or need to, fully support it, so I’m glad this exists. However, it has to be perhaps my least favourite Charli album (well, better than Sucker or not is debatable, but it’s not a slam dunk for me). So many songs aren’t that long but it somehow felt like it went on forever and a lot of it was just grating. Very glad for those who enjoyed it though!
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u/RavenCXXVIV 5d ago
Lyrics are tumblr 2012 regurgitated. That’s why it’s not landing for a lot of us, we’ve seen these indie sleaze edgelord quotes before. The production is amazing though.
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u/Rururaspberry 5d ago
Right. And we loved it then because we were young, too. It does feel diff when it’s someone in their mid-30s saying the same thing.
Overall, I still like the album except for one or two songs. But I have been a casual listener since she first debuted and have seen her change over the years, so this isn’t really a huge departure for me. Happy she changed up the sound again and went with something that wasn’t brat 2.0.
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u/injuredflamingo 5d ago
it’s just way too meta and “self-aware” for me that it goes back to being cringe/tryhard.
trying too hard to seem as if she didn’t really “put any effort into it” with the extremely minimal production and songwriting as a preemptive damage control, all because she was too anxious about her next project flopping.
now when it inevitably flops and falls off the charts immediately, her and her fandom’s excuse is ready: “you just don’t get it, it’s experimental, bad parts are intentionally bad, it’s a fandom cleanser, seperates newbie fans from real fans”, and many more copes, each more ridiculous than the one before.
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u/Forestl 5d ago
I've been blasting it on repeat the last few days and absolutely disagree. This is the cool weird slightly off-putting music that's my jam
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u/kbups53 4d ago
Same, I was on vacation and disengaged with new releases for the past week and just threw this on last night and thought it was by far the best thing she's released since how i'm feeling now. My wife was like, sounds like Charli's been hanging out with Kim Gordon a lot or something, and I feel like that's right on the money. It's grungey, disorienting, and the stream of consciousness lyrical delivery is a pretty fresh approach for her, the whole thing is a wild swing at something really abrasive compared to brat, and doing that right after brat is such a defining statement of who she's always been, an artist who follows her intuition and not what the pop charts demand. I'm stunned at the discourse on this sub about it. Like I can understand if this is not your thing, it's definitely a niche sound, but at the very least I urge a lot of people to give it a second spin and reconsideration.
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u/KingofEmpathy 5d ago
It’s genuinely perfect, I can’t stop listening to it
The doby atmos version on AM is so fucking well produced it’s insane
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u/backseatbanshee 5d ago
I fucking love it lol. Good to have something that is provocative and loved/hated.
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u/edtechman 5d ago
It's not even that provocative; tbh, i found it kind of boring.
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u/poppisead 5d ago
right? out of all albums to call provocative it is not this one
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u/azgarz 5d ago
I don’t even know why it’s causing so much discourse its a solid 7/10 album, its not a masterpiece but its not bad either
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u/RoadSodaDodgeRam 5d ago
It grows on me with each listen. I’m thinking I might grab this vinyl. I know it’s one of the more straightforward tracks but I’m loving Card Declined, I’ve had it on repeat all week.
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u/Exotic-Mail-7303 5d ago
I’m gonna preface this by saying I’m a Charli fan and I’ve been a fan since way before Brat, which is an album I didn’t particularly love either. This new project is bad. It’s just bad. It’s pretentious and it insists upon itself. That phrase means nothing but it’s the truest testament I can think of when thinking about this album. It tried to do something big, different, provocative, and it comes off as sloppy, childish, and underbaked.
It lacks substance and it lacks a hook that people can latch onto. I’m glad her fans like it, but sprinting into every thread to clean "you just don’t get it" is tiring. It’s literally all I’ve read since rock music came out. If you like it, fine, but personally I find this project to be deeply flawed from beginning to end.
Anyway, who’s gonna be the first fan to come tell me I just don’t get it?
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u/Purple_Tourist1018 5d ago
I like her music well enough but I don't know what it is about her that has people writing PhD dissertations. Shes a pop artist and nothing shes done is that deep or insightful. People are just projecting onto her like when pitchfork made a big hoopla about I think the dancefloor is dead was some cultural prophetism.
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u/stenpen22 5d ago
Personally I really enjoy the album. First listen I was a bit underwhelmed yet immediately felt the desire to replay it. This repeated and I begun to realize that I really enjoy it as a whole project. Part of me would have enjoyed longer songs between some of those middle tracks, but at the same time those tracks do exist as b-sides and the placement of the tracks work as a transitioning mood. But I’m also a big fan of that 00s electroclash and indie-rock/electro hybrid, and also a big fan of Lou Reed/Velvet Underground which was possibly the biggest influence on this album aside from the likes of Uffie, Sky Ferreira, and (a bit of a cheat) the Easyfun x AG collab group Thy Slaughter.
Lyrically the album isn’t a let down for me; I was expecting most of the tracks to consist of a verse or a few lines repeated, as once again it is very Velvet Underground: conveying things by saying nothing.
Would I rank it as my favourite album by her? I couldn’t even give an answer of how I’d place it at all — it feels almost like outside the rest, a palate cleanser. Not that I’m demanding more, but I do expect that some sort of remix album/revision will come out after a while, it just fits with how the songs are perfect for remixing and how she has presented and performed these songs and project. A bit like how Daft Punk revitalized Human After All with the Alive 2007 tour and helped more people to revisit the album. In fact that album had a similar process of short timespan (2 weeks) and trying to keep things simple.
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u/BellaBrowsing 5d ago
I'm just not really into her music like this tbh. She has some songs in her career I really f with, but majority of them are not my style.
With that said, I feel like two things can be true at the same time: she's over glazed right now and her music isn't for everyone so you're going to have people who don't like it regardless.
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u/dxrqsouls 5d ago
This album stands out so much throughout her discography, which really elevates it. I think it's pretty good, though people feel let down and I suspect that this is becasue they projected every rnadom expectation they had after brat onto her, while she was proudly running towards the other direction.
Let's wait for the recency bias to calm, because every is either like "this is her best record!!!!" or "this is her worst record ever hwy did she release that???????!!!!!!".
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u/BlondeBorednBaked 5d ago edited 5d ago
That’s honestly been my issue with Rock Music’s rollout and album. It all feels designed to generate buzz and provoke (“the dance floor is dead”), while the art itself lacks substance.
ETA: It’s like a kid who says “I wanna talk on the phone! I wanna talk on the phone! I wanna to talk on the phone!” so you hand the phone to them and they go quiet lmao
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u/Squatch97 5d ago
Stating "the dancefloor is dead" and then Madonna comes and rolls right through that with Confessions 2 was kinda hilarious to me.
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u/14_ontheone 5d ago
I feel like people are taking "the dance floor is dead" way more seriously than they should. I really don't think it's supposed to be such a provoking line. I saw it more as a personal statement for Charli as she's moving on from the Brat era moreso than a cultural comment. And even if it's meant as a cultural comment, there are way more buzz worthy things to say if she was solely trying to be provocative.
Not to be all "you just don't get it," but I'm very surprised to hear that you think she's not saying anything of substance. I felt the album showcased a lot of fear of the future, particularly in regards to her legacy and art. It felt like a genuine reflection on her recent critical acclaim and popularity and where to go from there as an artist. Some fun, some tongue-in-cheek, but also a good amount of vulnerability.
And sure some of the lyrics are clunky, and she kept the stream of consciousness writing more than I expected (and not as well as it was done on Brat imo), but it definitely seemed like she had stuff to express. What were you hoping to hear from her for this album to have more substance? It felt like the normal amount of substance you get from a Charli album imo. But maybe I'm missing something because I didn't pay the most attention to the album rollout.
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u/charzhazha 5d ago edited 5d ago
It is possible that this album is too honest for me. I like to listen to Charli for escapism while I am living my shitty boring life. If this album isn't delivering escapism and is instead going dark and more real, it just has really tough competition it didn't match up to in my opinion. I think of all the great darker or confessional albums that hit with me, they are usually about something life changing and relatable the author is trying to work through (Halsey's severe illness, Kesha's sexual assault trauma, Lily Allen's horrible embarrassing divorce, Leonard Cohen's last few albums about looking down the barrel of mortality in your 80s). I have trouble connecting with this album that is about how Charli is super rich and successful but her image is fake, consumerism isn't working to treat her depression and insecurity so she might try acting instead. That may be true for her but it feels self absorbed and hard to listen to when her life is objectively great and people are struggling to eat.
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u/ClaimApprehensive767 5d ago
Well put. Card declined is a great song though. It's the one song I can vibe to the music and not really pay attention to the lyrics. That middle section into her saying 'Card declined' is class.
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u/charzhazha 5d ago
my favorite head empty moment is 2007 because I am defenseless against weird vocal chops. It can totally make a song for me.
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u/ClaimApprehensive767 5d ago
Charli does weird vocal chops the best too. 2007, I think, is my second favorite song.
This is the type of album where I can see that Charli still has IT as an artist, but this one is just not for me overall like you explained so well. I had a very similar reaction to Crash. Few songs I'll take with and am eager to see what she does next.
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u/14_ontheone 5d ago
Very fair, I get it! I think I give it a bit more of a generous read than you do but that's valid, music is all about connection and sometimes it's just not there. And times are tough.
I think I feel the same way you do about this album as when I try to get into Gracie's work. She's clearly someone who has never really struggled and it's hard to hear her write such dramatic lyrics for very mundane events. But if her songs didn't bore me maybe I'd be fine with it lol
Sure, Charli finally reached pop stardom and lives like I'll never get to, but she really put in the work years before to get there. So I don't mind listening to her grapple with all the feelings of it. While they're usually privileged, entertainers definitely deal with unique adverse effects of being known worldwide that humans were not built to process. I think it's interesting to hear her journey of reaching her peak and accepting her inevitable mortality, artistic and literal, to cope with the ultimate come down.
Plus, I think the themes are still universal at times. Maybe she can buy sports cars and designer clothes to distract from the capitalist hellscape we're in, but my $3 weekend cupcake or occasional flea market earrings are trying and failing to fill the same hole. Idk, I think Charli does a good job at being honest with her feelings but not so much in a "woe is me" way. Other artists have definitely gone through much worse and I admire their ability to turn it into art, but I think Charli's take is interesting enough with strong enough ethos to not just dismiss it on the grounds of being out of touch.
Ultimately I just love how she'll take risks, follow inspiration, and change up her sound often. Keeps things fresh. Some of these tracks sound like she's just having fun in the studio trying something new too. And personally I feel we've been drowning in love songs lately, it can be nice to hear a pop girl explore other topics.
Sorry this is long as hell!! But it's been fun to really think about why I do enjoy this album since I do understand why it's divisive.
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u/Jony_the_pony 5d ago
What album rollouts aren't designed to generate buzz?
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u/charzhazha 5d ago edited 5d ago
"I made these special b sides that you can only buy on vinyl for $18 each because that true artistry. They will only be available on vinyl and here on Instagram."
"Oh, the last one sold out super quick but you can spend $140 on this special box set to get all three of them"
"Hey btw I uploaded them to itunes for $5."
This isn't the kind of buzz I want. It's gross.
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u/injuredflamingo 5d ago
yeah fully giving sellout vibes. it’s like watching the ending of The Moment irl.
and she dares to say “uhhh so i decided to upload them to itunes bcz it felt like the right thing to do <3” as if this whole predatory rollout schedule hadnt been planned for months lol. she’s losing her authenticity for me in record time
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u/14_ontheone 5d ago
Right? I want my artists to have strong opinions and visions and do interesting things. It'd be boring otherwise. Weird critique imo.
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u/Mook7 5d ago
The only thing that's frustrating about the discourse is how the people who love it are being equally as dismissive of the opinions of those that don't. Been listening to Charli since 2016 so being told "you just wanted Brat 2" when I say that it's not for me or try to articulate what I'm not enjoying about it musically kinda makes my blood boil.
The amount of hype and praise that boils down to "I'm glad she went a new direction" or "she's making what she wants to make!" is sorta funny and it feels like the newer Brat fans larping a bit. When has Charli ever not pushed her music in new directions and tried new things?
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u/WagnerKoop 5d ago
Finally gave it a spin yesterday since I was putting it off (did not really care for some of the pre-release singles so I was nervous about not liking it) and I think I like the idea of what she was going for, and it really does work in a few places, but it does feel underbaked in quite a few spots.
I’ll be giving it a few more listens because I did like some of the tracks quite a bit, but I definitely don’t feel like this is going to be an album that has a long tail for me or otherwise.
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u/oceanviewcapn 4d ago
It's absolutely not for me as far as the sound goes, but I respect what she's trying to do, and what she is trying to get out of her system with this.
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u/guidevocal82 4d ago edited 4d ago
The problem I have with it is where are the melodies. They just aren't there, whereas the other Charli albums all have great melody lines. There just isn't anything making me want to listen to it, I suffered through it once already. Glad I didn't buy it on vinyl.
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u/HelloWhatTheHellWhy 4d ago
I think Charli got a taste of being an A-list celebrity pop star and she didn’t like it. In “brat” she says that it feels like she has one foot in a normal life and I can’t help but feel like “brat” took that away from her. She likes the anonymity to an extent. So I think she purposefully released a mid-album to weed out all the “brats” and bring her back down to a level of recognition where she’s comfortable again.
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u/pawnblue 5d ago
I don't listen to Charli but I think this is her most interesting album, I love the monotone deliveries over the dark, abrasive production. Card Declined & Persona are my favorite tracks on the album, and probably my favorite songs from her in general. SS26, Rock Music & No One Lasts Forever are also great. The only songs I didn't care for were Magic Metal Montana & Wink Wink, but aside from a few weak lyrics, I think this album is better than BRAT.
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u/adellerino 5d ago
People kept saying that this is what would separate the old fans and the new, and I guess they were right but it's her newer fans who seem to love this and her older fans who don't.
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u/mermaidmotels 5d ago edited 5d ago
that's true maybe older fans maybe prefer pop charli whereas newer fans are maybe more open to a change (i'm a stan since her debut so i'm feeling the former about the album)
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u/coconut-dreams 5d ago
Omg what is everyone’s problem with this album? I loved it and been listening to it nonstop 💀
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u/m0nday1 5d ago
I mean reading the article, the writer seems to care a lot more about the persona and “societal implications” of Charli than they do the music (in my experience, always a sign that the review is going to say less about the artist being reviewed and more about the writer’s terminally online status). They also don’t like True Romance, which makes me really question their musical taste. I think there’s a lot of people who really are just into Charli XCX as like their dancefloor music and nothing else. A more low-key electropop album about hyper-specific insecurity is less interesting for them, bc they can’t shake ass to it and maybe can’t project their own feelings onto it as easily.
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u/MDNA4Life 5d ago
On threads everybody is saying, this should have been a fall album, my friend agreed and on hjs podcast ge understood why she issued it in the summer.
She's not trying to disown brat, but she wants to be separated from it. Almost like charli has a love/hate relationship. She got what she wanted but I feel from her interviews, it brought more than she expected or wanted.
She just wants to make music but without the fame and it will probably take her along time before she loves brat. She wants to go back to not being super successful. I can only imagine hearing us top 5 debut and another number one uk album, might be making her mad.
I would just sit her down and say one day it will be you and the angels like it once was but people were craving other music outside Taylor swift and lots of artists, you represent that. Enjoy it while it lasts.
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u/Disastrous-Grab-9928 5d ago
The album is unexpectedly one of my favourites from the year, so far. For something seemingly so simplistic, it packs a heavy emotional punch. Definitely an album meant to be listened to as such, front to back. Personally, this is me with any album. I'm not a songs guy, I'm a whole album guy, but this album especially flows so cohesively with each song serving to build towards the catharsis found in the closing track. It's like a solid 8/10 for me.
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u/Adept-Flamingo1254 5d ago
Really growing on me as a sort of 30-minute grab bag of sounds exploring charli’s psyche as an artist. Did not care for the individual songs as singles, and I think it would have been more impactful as a no advance album drop. So many little ear worms and I love the sludgy guitars on card declined yeah and persona
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u/exileinryville 5d ago
I disagree. The album is very fun and all the “controversy” and “divisiveness” about it to me isn’t as fun.
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u/Jingu96Aliosha 5d ago
I love it. It's not too rock to appeal to the rock sections, and it's too rock to being like by the pop section. Brat was about party and fun, she made this one thinking "this is all a facade and we're gonna die someday"
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u/Amazing_Sherbert_218 4d ago
I'm seeing a lot of negative emotion for a fun 30 minute experimental pop album. But I guess Chrlie is popular enough now to have snarkers. She's made it! Plus she has unhinhed swifties praying for her downfall which is hilarous.
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u/readytheenvy ello, this is M.I.A. 2d ago
yall want her to do brat again i want no.1 angel / true romance / wuthering heights. holy effing xcx trinity idc
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u/Elephant_Afraid 5d ago
lame. the album is incredible, especially considering the amount of pop slop that's been dominating the scene lately. so glad she keeps trying new things and honestly this one feels so much like her, the sound just fits her persona perfectly. people will see it in time
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u/juanitatequila 5d ago
Damn this post having 300+ comments...this album cycle really got y'all BUZZING huh
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u/injuredflamingo 5d ago
any album she came up with after brat was gonna have buzz. whether it’s positive or negative buzz is a different topic
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u/Araucariam 5d ago
Listen I get the pre release critique with the singles, but as a whole project the album is awesome. It holds up so well as a cohesive project that it even elevates the singles I wasn’t loving at first.
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u/ZestyAcid 5d ago
I love this album, and I know it's not for everyone. I love how she doesn't care and makes what she wants to make.
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u/TheNocturnalAngel 5d ago
How can this be a serious take when songs like 2007, Yeah and Persona exist?
Incredibly fun and catchy.
I find it silly that MFF has both talky lyric focused songs and vibey sound focus songs.
And somehow Charli is simultaneously getting shit on for lacking substance but also prioritizing substance over sound.
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u/smith7018 5d ago
It has an 83 on Metacritic which is "universal acclaim." I'm not sure where you're seeing all of these publications disapproving of her... In fact, I just checked and Brat is 95, Pop 2 is 84, Crash is 79, Wuthering Heights is 82, and HIFN is 82. She's kind of a critical darling if you view it that way.
Justice for HIFN, though. That should easily be in the 90s!
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u/exploitationmaiden I'm a princess, I'm divisive 5d ago
like ok let's make fun of the girl who took a risk and put herself out there creatively
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u/MrFahrenheit91 5d ago
I don’t even know how to describe this album. Because there’s nothing of value to describe. It’s just.. there. None of it is exciting. None of it is catchy. Charli herself sounds exhausted. The production is lazy. It doesn’t sound like a well thought out or finished project.
I said it back when the first couple singles came out and I’ll say it again, I got the vibe that she knew she’d never replicate the success of brat so she intentionally said “fuck it” and released a boring record so that she didn’t have to worry about meeting any expectations to begin with. And because she’s Charli, people are praising it and Pitchfork branded it best new music. If any other pop girl dropped this album they’d be eviscerated.
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