Charli XCX crashes in with new single and album announcement
The second single for Charli XCX’s fifth and final studio album with Atlantic Records, New Shapes, features friends and collaborators Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek. This single follows the August release of the debut single for the album, Good Ones. The debut single kicked-off Charli’s new era filled with grunge, 80’s inspo, and a plethora of dark memes. In theme with Charli’s history of leaks, the single cover and new album cover did leak a day before the announcement. Additionally, the artist had previously debuted a snippet of the song in her Bandsintown live show on March 19th, 2021. Nevertheless, Charli’s fans are stuffed because of the recent single drop, album cover release, and tour announcement – at least for now.
She returns to the 80’s with her new era
Throughout the promotion of her new era, Miss XCX spoke about the 80’s inspiration in her plans for with the new project. In fact, this goes back before the release of her 2020 quarantine album How I’m Feeling Now. Before that, Angels remember her talk about an 80’s synth-inspired album that was never finished because of the pandemic. Her fans often refer to it as the “Janet Album” because of how she spoke about Janet Jackson inspiring her. Now, we see this inspiration will carry through to her next full-length piece of work titled “CRASH.” Some of the new tracks might even be from the time before the pandemic switched things up? Regardless of what Charli XCX fans speculate, the punching synths of 80’s pop music have definitely made their way into New Shapes.
Classic collaborators join in on the single
The new single brings in a new producer to Charli’s discography; RACECAR producer Deaton Chris Anthony, and Charli collaborator Lotus IV. Together, the artists create (you guessed it) a synth-pop masterpiece. However, in typical Charli XCX flair, she turns it into a 21st-century hit. The chorus has a staccato melody with Charli singing about how she “ain’t got it.” Ironic is the fact that she relentlessly told us in her 2017 Pop 2 hit I Got It that she in fact “got it.”
In this new age, though, she shows us that what you expect of her can be thrown out the window. Now, she is constantly creating new shapes, whether that be in her personal life, within her label, or in the sounds she creates with music. On New Shapes features Christine and The Queens and Caroline Polacheck perfectly intertwine their styles into Charli’s song. Christine’s Michael Jackson-esque delivery is heard in the second verse. For Caroline, her nuanced voice effects bring in the bridge of the song. Together, the three of them vocalize over a rollicking beat about being ever-changing. In all, the song is cohesive and entertaining. It is truly exciting to listen to artists, who consider each other good friends, have fun on a track.
Stay tuned for what Charli has next
However, excitement is an understatement for what to expect with Charli XCX in new era. Her new album CRASH is out on March 18th. To increase the hype, even more, Charli is active on Twitter and TikTok promoting the project. In a recent tweet, she name-drops all of the collaborators on the project. One of them includes the producer of Charli’s debut album True Romance, Ariel Rechtshaid. Additionally, pop star Rina Sawayama makes the cut. You can hear snippets of Ariel and Rina on the album from Charli’s live stream on TikTok. Lastly, you should pre-save CRASH on Charli’s official store to gain early access her deadly 2022 tour, and stay up to date on our On-Stage section for more details.
