Ladies and gentlemen, the quintessential quarantine album is here: How I’m Feeling Now - written, recorded, and produced within 6 weeks of lockdown courtesy of the progressive, socially-collaborative pop star, Charli XCX.
From the depths of depravity on April 6th, came a call-to-arms from the English pop artist Charli XCX - committing to such a feat framed within an unimaginably tight deadline of 6 weeks. To add further obscurity to the LP, she promised to only utilise what was available to her fingertips and would sought after fans’ advice over social media and Zoom calls - a rather far cry from the feature-filled list of her previous LP seven months ago.
Traversing even further away from her radio-friendly, beige hits of the early 2010’s and deeper into the recently chartered territories of PC-inspired, industrial-flavoured bubblegum pop, Charli’s extensive olive branch has proven to become more and more alluring as we've slowly descended into the unforgiving clutches of lockdown. Releasing 4 singles in the lead-up to the LP’s publication, few artists can even say they’ve committed to this, let alone an entire body of work.
With a deep sea dive into the nostalgic/Britney-esque sheen of 2000s pop, ‘Pink Diamond’ imminently pursues brazened, metallic beats followed by incessant calls to “go real hard” at the LP’s industrial-flavoured genesis. Along with the rubbery beats of ‘Claws’, ‘Detonate’, and ‘Anthems’, as well as the infectiously engrossing synthwave facade to ‘Enemy’, Charli ostensibly establishes a nostalgia-driven, party-fuelled aura - one entirely at odds with the very notion of isolation.
“I’m about to detonate, pull you close, then I’ll be gone”
Revelling in her destructive romantic ideals, Charli convincingly sets these flippant feelings against tinges of UK garage, as well as 80’s synthwave popularised particularly by The Weeknd and Dua Lipa’s recent LPs. The unpredictability of these volatile emotions vary from track to track, eliciting an unadulterated vibrancy to the LP - including warmly welcomed moments from comparatively subdued tracks such as ‘Forever’ and ‘Party 4 U’.
Unfortunately this myriad of emotions tend to succumb to rather redundantly repetitive lines, “party on you” and “I’m next level so legit”, proving as a thorny by-product of lockdown escapism. For the latter track, this remix of Charli’s hit ‘Click’ resides as another shortcoming, detracting flavour from the colourful nature of its predecessor produced on 2019's Charli. These limitations ultimately make How I’m Feeling Now seem more like an EP rather than an elongated, polished effort of an LP - perhaps better suited as the experimental b-sides to her LP of last year.
Ultimately, Charli’s undeniable appetite for ruthless basslines and beats mixed with hopeless romantics triumphs on the final track ‘Anthems’. Concluding the LP's 30-minute hit of adrenalised pop with perpetually whirring basslines merely tempt us to continue this entrancing euphoria amongst the inescapable impact of isolation.
Continually spearheading the way for her insatiable brand of braggadocious, metallic, glitchy 2000s pop, Charli has executed a sincerely postmodern LP through the wielding of her fortuitous fingertips. In spite of this LP’s rushed nature, Charli defiantly remains head and shoulders above her contemporaries, admirably scheming with the experimental likes of A.G. Cook and Dylan Brady (as well as the entirety of her online fan presence) for this audacious project. In short: this LP can be seen as a welcomed plug to the sinkhole of isolation, allowing us to bathe in the jolting waters of bubblegum pop and worry about the mess some other day.
7.5/10
Charli XCX's latest LP, How I'm Feeling Now, is out now and can be found here.
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