Charli XCX - Crash

For someone so open, Charli XCX remains somewhat of an enigma. A pop polymath, she’s spent her previous four albums and associated mixtapes, EPs and creative endeavours flicking around the zeitgeist’s dial trying to find signal amongst the noise. From brat-punk to the early sparks of hyperpop, huge collaborations to intimate bedroom pop, there’s little she’s tried and not found a way to excel at. And yet, in so many ways, ‘Crash’ feels like the first time we’re hearing the real Charli.

Heralded throughout the run-up as the final album in her deal with Atlantic Records, there’s a suggestion that this is Charli unleashed. Set free of expectations of what comes next, she’s out here, living her best Big Pop life. In others, though, it’s the sound of a triple A-list songwriter working tighter to the brief than ever before. A collection of giganto-bops flung with gleeful abandon, Charli is nothing if not a juxtaposition. This time, though, the results are nothing short of a triumph.

The layers within ‘Crash’ are countless. On the one hand, it’s a collection of pop looks combining to fizz and frazzle from the first spin. Opening title-track ‘Crash’ is a voguing ‘i like it when you sleep...’ era The 1975 pushed to extremes, all clipped guitars and 80s neon glow. Early singles ‘Good Ones’ and ‘New Ones’ prove that both on her own or with a crew, few can craft a bop like Charli XCX, while ‘Baby’ drips with sass and swagger, fuelled by orchestral stabs and a fearsome promise to ‘fuck you up”.