Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Charli XCX, Warner Music Australia 2019.
Charli XCX is an English singer/songwriter who has accrued a series of awards for her genre-blending pop creations including two Billboard Music Awards, a YouTube Music Award, two Sesac Songwriter of the Year Awards, plus nominations for Grammy and Brit Awards and MTV EMA’s but this album is the first I’ve heard of her.
It’s a massive understatement to say that the cover artwork is eye-catching.
Apparently Charli teamed up with AR makeup artist Ines Alpha to design it with a goal of “dismantling classic beauty ideals”.
I’m not sure how successful she has been seeing that she’s displaying all the attributes of a Botticelli nude, however I wish her well.
Charli has recorded the album with executive Production by A.G. Cook and a gaggle of collaborators including Lizzo, Christine & The Queens, Troy Sivan, Haim, Brooke Candy and others.
Charli’s musical style has often been described as electro pop, punk pop, and alternative pop. In fact it’s an amalgam of the lot.
Her music is dominated by the synthesizer and artificial rhythms so if that’s your thing then I’m sure you are going to find much to like about this album.
I personally found the album difficult to get into.
There is very little flow because the songs are so different from one another, although I did find some of the instrumentation interesting.
It may be part of her aim; to disrupt so that the listener is forced to take an active rather than passive part in the process.
Whatever the motive I found myself losing concentration and interest and wondering what it was all about.
I freely acknowledge that I’m not part of her target audience and younger ears may hear things that I don’t.
The fact that Charli has won so many accolades suggests that she’s pleasing a lot of people.
