How Charli XCX Returned to Her Rave Roots for New Album 'Loud and Bold'

My big struggle is deciding if I care more about being the biggest artist that I can be commercially or critically sound,” says Charli XCX. “Then sometimes I land in this place without caring about any of those things.”

For most of her career as a singer for other pop stars (Gwen Stefani, Camila Cabello, Selena Gomez) and as a beloved solo artist, Charli has managed to strike an enviable balance between the two pop poles she just described. . The 31-year-old British artist has made inevitable hits like her 2014 collaboration with Iggy Azalea, “Fancy,” which spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and more sonically experimental pop — including her famous pairings with SOPHIE. with which Charli pioneered hyperpop — while establishing herself as a tastemaker with a history of working with top artists like Yaeji, Rina Sawayama and Caroline Polachek before the industry fully caught on.

Hard, playful and smart, her track “Speed ​​Drive” from Barbie The soundtrack is classic Charli and also her biggest commercial hit since 2014's “Boom Clap”. She is now preparing for her sixth studio album, BRAT. (On Wednesday, Charli was posted on social media to expect the album this summer.)

The continuation until 2022 Conflict It is, he says, a club record that harkens back to London's illegal rave scene where he started playing “when I was 14 or 15”, created from a tight collection of sounds to create “this unique minimalism that's very loud and bold”. .

“Strong and bold” could well describe his entire career Advertising sign2024 Women in Music Powerhouse honoree. Chatting on Zoom (wearing a white hoodie and a single gold star sticker on her chin) she's characteristically candid, admitting she finds the time between albums difficult – “probably the reason I'm not going to be a musician in the end”. But for now, with a new one finished, she's gearing up for her life to get back on the pop star beat.

What is the concept of the new album?

This album is very direct. I've gotten over the idea of ​​metaphor and flowery lyricism and don't say exactly what's on my mind like I would to a friend in a text message. This record is everything I would talk about with my friends, just like I would say it. It is in a way very aggressive and confrontational, but also very conversational and personal. And not in that boring way that artists say, “This is my most personal record.” To me, it's like listening to a conversation with a friend.

Do you feel you are in a unique position to project ideas and sounds from the club world to a more mainstream audience?

I think I had a very big impact on popular music. I won't lie. But I feel weird even saying that in a subtle way in this interview, to be honest. I don't think it ever was [my or my collaborators’] intention to bring elements of club or underground music to a wider audience; I think we were just instinctive. There is a spontaneity in my music that feels off the cuff, blunt and strange at the same time. It is also this fearlessness. I don't mean to sound cocky, but I see it when I write in sessions for other people or with people I don't write with much. It's like… I don't follow a rulebook on how to write a song.

For Conflict, you purposely stepped into the role of a major label pop star, like cosplay. Is the new album's immediate approach a reaction to that?

It's definitely related. The pendulum always swings for me. I think a good artist must always be reshaping, recasting and redressing himself, literally. You're right, Conflict it was about signing me to a major label [Asylum Records UK/Warner Music UK] and I feel like I've never played that traditional, stereotypical pop star game. I wanted to play this satirical role, so I was over-sexualizing myself, taking songs that other people had written for me, and using an A&R person for the first time in my career.

This record is the polar opposite. It is not cooperative. I'm not playing a character. It is direct and honest. I really tried not to write love songs or songs about my romantic relationship. [She got engaged to The 1975’s George Daniel in late 2023.] There are a couple, but generally speaking, I wanted it to feel more gossipy, so it's a reaction to Conflict. I'm quite a reactive person.

You have written with and about many other women. Was this intentional?

There are a few songs I've written that are for male artists, but it's not a conscious decision. It just happened that way. I honestly don't know that I could write from a male point of view.

You receive the Powerhouse award. What is your relationship with authority?

Some days you wake up and feel very strong, or power, or in control, or confident, or any positive word associated with power or a woman in power. But some days you wake up and feel unworthy and small and insecure and not good enough. I don't think this is specific to me or my industry. I think that's just human nature. It is impossible to feel strong all the time. To me, at least, that would be a lie.

There is also great power in vulnerability. This is funny, but I think when I'm more honest and true to myself, it makes me feel stronger. Sometimes that upsets people, whether it's people I work with or my fans or my family. There is always someone to be upset about. You just have to ask if it would be a sacrifice not to make that decision the way you want to make it. That's what I'm asking myself.

Are there specific moments in your career where you rose to a greater level of power?

When I started working with [producer] AG Cook, when I started working with SOPHIE, there was this kinship and understanding that made me feel very powerful because I felt like we were on this unspeakable journey together that not many other people could be on.

And then I work with my friends — not weird friends from LA that I've picked up at parties, but my friends that I've had since I was 11 years old. This is powerful because there is a ground plane. To them, I'm not that person who's a pop star. I'm their once-not-so-cool friend Charli.

This story will appear in the March 2, 2024 issue Advertising sign.