Charli XCX — how i’m feeling now (5/15/20)
Not even a year since her well-received last album, Charli, we have a new batch of songs from this English pop artist. This is Charli’s COVID album; the title and the album’s content inspired by the pandemic lockdown. And it seems she created this whole thing while in self-isolation, recording from her home studio in L.A.
There’s nothing too outwardly DIY about this. It’s a flawless production yet again but you will notice that Charli is all alone on this as opposed to her last album which had plenty of featured artists. The album’s creation was collaborative. Charli exchanged ideas via the web with multiple producers and even fans, but there is a bit of a self-isolated feel to this in the sense that it’s just Charli throughout.
Most of these songs are related to her long-term boyfriend, who she’s been holed up with during the pandemic. She collaborated with producer BJ Burton (Bon Iver, BANKS, Francis and the Lights) on “forever.” It’s a cute, catchy hook about loving her boyfriend even if circumstances take them apart. The production is dense with these scratching waves of noise coming in and out, and Charli’s bubblegum pop sound helps balance the darker textures of the track.
The following “claws” has Charli again announcing her love but over a much friendlier beat, created by Dylan Brady of the experimental duo 100 Gecs. While Charli sounds almost afraid of what the future will hold for her relationship on “forever,” she sounds stripped of all concerns on this one.
And to wrap up the love song trio, the following “7 years” puts the stamp on her love for her partner, commenting on their journey as a couple. It swings big on the hook with a pounding, industrial beat and shouted vocals.
But that’s not the last of the boyfriend material. “i finally understand,” produced by London artist Palmistry, is her way of acknowledging how strong their relationship is. The pandemic has allowed the couple to be with each other more than ever before and she sees now how much she can really trust him.
“enemy” takes an interesting approach to the phrase “keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” The closest person in her life is her boyfriend, so does that mean he’ll eventually become her enemy? She doesn’t believe that will happen, but she plays with the idea of the person closest to her having the most ammunition to work against her.
She penned the lyrics for “detonate,” a track originally from A.G. Cook of the PC Music record label, with a bleak mindset. The lyrics hold self-doubt and she compares herself to a ticking time bomb ready to detonate at any moment. It’s the one song where she really lets the doubt seep in about her relationship and her self-worth.
These sparkling, rolling synths and glitching samples lead the track into the most powerful hook of the album. It, unfortunately, decides to end the song with an extended cut-up version of the post-chorus instead of giving us one more go with the incredible hook.
Charli doesn't strike me as the type of woman who likes to be cooped up in one place. She vents her desire for normal nightlife to return on the opening “pink diamond.” It’s the most in-your-face heavy, grimy, condensed, and frankly alarming track of the album. The fierce beat was created by R&B artist Dijon and touches on some of the heavy crunching textures you might hear in experimental hardcore.
“c2.0” is a follow-up to last album’s “Click” and has Charli expressing how she misses her clique. Industrial electronics open the song and it sets into a repetitive refrain of Charli’s chiptune vocals before sliding into an onslaught of “clique” on repeat as the instrumental fades. 90 seconds in, the bass joins and it makes the grating first chunk pay off immensely.
Then there’s “anthems.” This is certainly the party “anthem” of the album. A massive banger that similar to “pink diamond” is Charli trying to let the party girl out, this time with a much more accessible atmosphere. The song is fire, it pounds through without wasting time and hits some of the heaviest pop feelings of the year.
This album really shows how Charli is removed from mainstream pop. This stuff is way too messy for the likes of Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. She’s a pop artist with a hardcore influence on her production and she loves to incorporate almost uncomfortable sounds into her music.
The album comes out of a pandemic and, like the claustrophobic conditions we’ve been living in, feels like it’s trapped in its own shell, the songs trying to break out. We might not be free yet, but you can still have a self-isolated party with Charli on this one.
