As we get deeper into the year, there have yet to be many standout albums or musical projects until now. Charli XCX has “crashed” into all of us with the first marvelous pop album of the year with her fifth studio album, “Crash.”
Coming in at only 34 minutes and 12 tracks in length, this new album by Charli XCX, the well-known leader of “hyperpop,” the sub-genre that adds electronic and avant-garde production to what would be regular pop songs, has been somewhat of a long time coming.
The first single, “Good Ones,” was released on Sept. 2, 2021, and in this day and age, for a lead single to come out six months before an album is rare. However, that does not affect the solid power of “Good Ones,” as it has only gotten better with age. The track kicked off a new era, and within the first few seconds, you can tell it was going to be different than the many previous eras Charli has gone through.
“Good Ones” is one of many standout tracks on the album.
Photo courtesy of Charli XCX / YouTube
Since it is Charli’s last album with her current label, Atlantic Records, she has said she wanted to go full pop star with this album. In doing so, it sounds much more mainstream than her previous albums and goes fully into the popular dance-pop genre, though Charli still knows how to make it unique to her own sound. This is heavily evident in tracks like “Good Ones,” “Baby” and “Used to Know Me,”
The album only has two collaborations, and Charli chose the perfect people to feature. “New Shapes” features two previous collaborators of Charli’s, Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek. All three work so well together in this quirky pop track, and each of them add a new idiosyncrasy the other might not have.
“New Shapes” features two previous collaborators of Charli’s (center), Christine and the Queens (right) and Caroline Polachek (left).
Photo courtesy of Charli XCX / YouTube
The other collaboration on this album is “Beg for You,” featuring Rina Sawayama. Everything about this song is perfect. From the chemistry between Sawayama and Charli to the sample of September’s 2006 hit dance single “Cry for You,” this song can teach many artists about doing both collaborations and samples.
“Crash” is a consistent, precise pop album that does not fail in any of its tracks and gets better with each listen. Many songs on this album like “Yuck” and “Move Me” are some of Charli’s best yet. It is a credit to the type of artist Charli is. She’s not afraid to go in when it’s called for and lean out when she wants to.
