The Pop Corporation

We’ve heard that the ‘dancefloor is dead’ and Charli XCX is kinda going in a rock direction, but isn’t, but then keeps releasing pop songs with a rock edge, and the whole thing is mildly confusing, but the Stans seem happy enough in the feeling that they get it before anyone else does.

Brat Summer is long gone, and now we’re entering whatever period this is going to be called, and Charli XCX is now releasing music in a period which has more eyeballs on it than she’s ever had before.

But what to make of it all from a completely neutral viewpoint. Sure, it took us an embarrassingly long time to get that ‘360’ was a bop, but we’re not deep in the lore. We don’t have to like or dislike anything. Charli’s fans will obviously be devout, and the haters will hate because they have to.

We just want to gawp and see what’s what.

Of the singles so far, ‘SS26’ sounds like the most complete song, marrying Charli’s hooky writing with some decidedly finished production.

There’s a wryness that she’s carried over from Brat that may have even been upped with this new material.

The new track – ‘Wink Wink’ – is so tongue in cheek that parts of it feel like an out-and-out bit. She deadpans “I used to lick cream off strawberries in the summer and maybe I fucked your dad – just kidding – I’m only saying that for effect, but my point is I think people can change. I used to jump on trampolines with no underwear on and now I basically just wear trousers.”

Whichever way you cut it, you’d be hard pressed to think of anyone else around right now who would write something like that. It’s so meta or… something… that it’ll absolutely be polarising. She seems to thrive in that corridor of uncertainty at the minute, and has the kind of gum chewing nonchalance that means she doesn’t have to care what you think if you’re a naysayer.

Of course, this whole thing kicked off with ‘Rock Music’, which gave us the like “I’m really banging my head – I’m really hurting my neck” in a track that never quite drops, which seems intentional, and will annoy Rock Puritans, which is admirable enough, even if some of those puritans have a point.

What does it all mean? Maybe it doesn’t mean anything other than watching an artist do whatever the fuck they want, right? The album cover doesn’t even feature herself, as ‘Music Fashion Film’ has a cover photograph of John Cale (music), Marc Jacobs (fashion) and Martin Scorsese (you get it by now).

By now, this all feels like you’re in one of two camps – don’t understand what’s going on, and the other, someone who is signed-up to just see what happens and have fun with whatever she’s putting down. It’s not really about cohesive, manicured rollouts – it’s more chaotic than that. She’s going to release and perform a rock-not-rock album and you’ll probably need a cold shower after you’ve watched all of her videos and performances, then next, for all we know, she could release a vaporwave album or be the killer in a horror movie. She might be the new landlady in Eastenders or just retire and tell everyone to fuck off.

If we’re learning anything, it’s that Charli XCX has probably made enough money to quit the life of celebrity, so she’s going to ride it til she either gets bored of it, or the wheels fall off.

With that, we better just enjoy it for what it is.