Another jewel in the crown for the pop Queen
This one has left us in a strange position, as we suspected we were the target audience (nerds who like John Cale). So ever since she dropped the album cover, we were concerned we would be pandered to.
However, the initially polarising singles did two things effectively. One was to scare off casual fans as a hangover from the ‘brat’ era. And two, prime the audience for a band-based instrumental palette.
But rest assured, ‘Rock Music’ and ‘SS26’ are intentionally direct and serve as an icebreaker before Charli offers some incredibly thoughtful and meditative artpop.
The album has Charli continuing the sharp and punchy structures (’Camera’, ‘Wink Wink’) alongside very confessional songwriting (’Persona’). The reflections on permanence, as best amplified by the David Cronenberg monologue on the closing track, were a complete surprise.
And that’s what we’d say is the biggest draw of the record. It’s her honesty and openness in addressing her post-’brat’ career and how the fame and the process of touring that record changed her. The result isn’t the obvious ‘burnout’ record, but rather a thoughtful and refreshingly reserved combination of the sounds of early-2000s New York with her pop sensibilities (’2007’, ‘Yeah’).
It’s brave to release a record like this when you’re following up a classic. That would be impressive as is. But Charli delivers something else entirely, something truly special.
And finally, we are that petty. We were right about it sounding like the Strokes.
‘Music, Fashion, Film’ is available in the Store now.