CHARLI XCX.

Charlotte Aitchison learned about pop from two worlds: the hit factory and the underground. Precisely because she never definitively chose one side, Charli XCX grew into one of the most influential pop architects of her generation. Continue listening on vinyl with Pop 2.

Another record to keep listening with is Music, Fashion, Film by Charli XCX on vinyl. On the Charli XCX artist page, you will find records and other ways to continue listening.

FROM MYSPACE TO THE RAVE.

Charli started as a teenager posting songs on Myspace. The reactions didn't immediately lead her to a polished studio, but to London warehouse parties where electronic music sounded loud, strange, and without clear rules. There, she learned that pop is not just a genre, but also a material: something you can cut, distort, and reassemble.

After her record deal, there was no straight path. Her 2013 debut True Romance paired dark synthpop with sharp melodies. The record received critical acclaim, but the general public mainly knew her through songs that exploded outside of her own albums. She co-wrote Icona Pop's I Love It, sang on Iggy Azalea's Fancy, and reached the charts herself with Boom Clap.

SUCKER AND THE PROBLEM WITH SUCCESS.

2014’s Sucker turned up the guitar and made her brash pop side visible. Boom Clap, Break the Rules, and Doing It provided a clearer mainstream profile. But where other artists would build on such a formula, Charli became interested in what happened when pop lost its neat finish.

Collaborations with SOPHIE and the circle around PC Music opened up a new soundscape of metallic drums, distorted voices, and artificial emotion. The EP Vroom Vroom grew from a strange side path into a blueprint.

Charli XCX makes pop as if every rule only exists to be tested.

POP 2: THE FUTURE IN A MIXTAPE.

With mixtapes like Number 1 Angel and especially 2017’s Pop 2, Charli found her ideal laboratory. Guest artists didn't drop by for a perfunctory verse; they became parts of a community. Identities, voices, and genres could blur without the center disappearing.

Pop 2 concluded with Track 10, a song that felt simultaneously unfinished, over-the-top, and complete. It became a key piece in her catalog: emotion not despite digital manipulation, but because of it. Many ideas that later reached the charts were already present here in raw form.

CHARLI AND HOW I’M FEELING NOW.

When the world came to a standstill in 2020, she made how i’m feeling now in a matter of weeks from home, with open contact with fans about lyrics, images, and ideas. The speed became part of the music. forever, claws, and anthems sounded claustrophobic and exuberant at the same time: internet pop made at a moment when almost all of life played out through a screen.

CRASH: THE POP STAR AS A CHARACTER.

On 2022’s Crash, Charli consciously played with the image of the classic major-label pop star. Glossy production, choreography, and eighties references became not a surrender to the industry, but a role she explored from the inside. The album reached number one in the United Kingdom.

BRAT: A COLOR BECOMES A CULTURE.

2024’s BRAT combined the energy of the club with lyrics about insecurity, competition, friendship, and fame. The simple green cover seemed almost careless, but became immediately recognizable. The album grew beyond music: typography, color, and attitude became a shared language.

Beneath the slogans remained a personal album. 360 played with self-image and So I looked back on her bond with SOPHIE. On BRAT, the club was not an escape from emotions, but the place where they came back harder.

AFTER BRAT: FILM, FASHION, AND A NEW FRAME.

In 2026, the music around Wuthering Heights followed, in which romantic obsession and gothic tension brought out another side of her production. Later that year, Music, Fashion, Film appeared: again a shift in context, as if an album can also be a space, a piece of clothing, or a camera.

That movement suits her entire career. Charli doesn't destroy her previous version; she uses her as building material. The Myspace teenager, the hitmaker, the cult figure, and the center of BRAT all exist at the same time. Only the proportion changes.

Read more in POP and SYNTHPOP.