Despite being at odds with Atlantic Records, Charli XCX refuses to Crash and Burn on her Last Album Under Her Current Label.
Pop music has taken an interesting arc the past 7-8 years. Straying away from the bubble gum sugary acts which populated the first half of the 2010s, we started seeing more indie and avant gard artists making their way into the main stream. While critics started being more positive towards pop music during this time, it did feel like artists were trying to transcend pop music or reform pop music. It’s almost as if Pop became a dirty word around this time.
Charli XCX makes pop music… and she’s very good at it.
Charli alternates between releasing super poppy singles meant to infest the charts and the radio you might hear on the school bus or in the gym and releasing albums which, while using the pop formula and focus on sound and vibe, seem to get great reviews from critics. 2022 is no different as she dropped the track Hot In It with a big pop music video (inside a furniture store?) as well as a new album of bangers called Crash.
On this record we have some synthetic percussion, some really sweet instrumentation, the occasional heavy-handed bass, and some really sweet harmonies. Not breaking any ground here when it comes to a Charli XCX record, but some critics noted a more pop-centered sound than on her last few records.
Personally, I don’t mind that at all. Regardless of whether it’s more laid back and poppy than her last few records, the fact is Charli still has clearly put some effort into this project and come out with some really fun music.
On her previous full length project How I’m Feeling Now, she detailed being in quarantine with her partner on the fantastic song 7 Years. They have since split up. You’d imagine that this would inspire Charli to write some break-up songs and if you did, you’d be half right.
Interestingly, Charli takes the opportunity on this project to point the finger at herself. Several tracks on here consist of Charli being apologetic for not being interested in a long term commitment.
One of the more interesting takes on this comes from the second track New Shapes. On this song, Charli details meeting someone late at night and falling in love, only for the feelings to be gone in the morning. This is one of my favorite tracks on this album as it has a really fun hook (especially considering the rather sad subject matter).
She doesn’t tell this story from a neutral perspective either, she clearly knows this isn’t a good way to live. She’s apologetic to the person she’s meeting in this song but fully aware that this is who she is.
The third track isn’t as good in my opinion, but it does continue to establish this idea that Charli is fully aware of her tendency to let love pass her by. The theme of the track Good Ones is stated immediately: She always lets the good ones go. She even tells the subject of the song that it’s not their fault, but it’s something that’s entirely within her heart. She touches on this as well on track 6 Move Me.
Where does this come from? The first track may inform us, as the title track Crash seems to indicate a post-breakup meltdown from Charli. This is a great song by the way, the hook is really fun. The car crash imagery reminds me a lot of the song I Don’t Care (I Love It) which ironically features Charli XCX.
Charli seems to be open about how this persona she’s putting forth is based on having her heartbroken, as she mentions that directly on the title track as well as the track Lightning. I really like how she’s not shying away from portraying herself as the villain here. She talks about this facet of her personality that she’s apologetic of but she doesn’t try to sell you on it. She knows it’s a feeling a lot of people go through at the end of a breakup.
The track Lightning, by the way, is my favorite track on the album. Charli sings sweetly on the first verse before harmonizing with the wackiest robot voice to introduce a really fun hook. This track appealed to me as well because it’s the closest thing we get to character development from Charli on this record.
She mentions that she’s susceptible to having her heartbroken but the connection she’s made with the subject of this song is so instant and undeniable that she feels she has no choice but to move on it. She even throws her worries away on the hook, saying that like lightning, heartbreak isn’t something she’s concerned about hitting her twice.
I didn’t expect to be this taken up by Charli’s lyrics, but she came across on much of this project as really sweet and earnest. It struck me immediately and I really appreciated it.
The idea of heartbreak standing in the way of future love isn’t the only concept covered on this album, but it’s definitely the most consistent and the most interesting. Her best non heartbreak song is still a sad one, but in a different way. The track Beg For You is seemingly about leaving a long-distance partner to not see them again for the foreseeable future and it’s really sweet.
On the other hand, Every Rule is about having an instant connection with someone despite you and the other person being in relationships. The result is Charli and the song’s subject having an affair.
…Okay so I know I said Charli was playing the villain on some tracks but that may have been a bit dramatic. This song, on the other hand, is a little villainous. C’mon Charli, an affair?
Maybe I’m still being dramatic.
Charli’s hook game is on point (as always) here, as she writes some really fun choruses. If I had to nitpick though, she does seem to rely on just singing “La La La” (Used To Know Me) or “Ah Ah Ah” (Every Rule) as opposed to writing something substantive. It’s not a deal breaker, but it does get a little old after a few tracks.
Are there any tracks that are bad? Yeah, the song Yuck is definitely below par compared to the rest of the album. The lyrics are really childish and annoying which shouldn’t bother me as much as it did. However, it is a little whiplash inducing to get lines like “I always frown on love, It’s giving me a tummyache” and “Thought your venom was divine” on consecutive songs.
It’s also definitely the least interesting and least fun instrumentally on the album, as we get some dodgy disco influenced beats here. The hook has potential (because Charli can’t fail on a total level, there has to be something defendable somewhere) but it’s definitely a skip from me.
Despite Yuck being a bad song, I’d still recommend this album as a whole. If you’re in a rush, the tracks Crash, New Shapes, Beg For You, Baby, and Lightning are your best bets. I’d still say you’d benefit from listening to the whole project; It’s a good time and it’ll be sure to brighten your day.
Don’t bother with the deluxe version though, the four additional tracks aren’t worth much.