Charli XCX has spoken to NME about what fans can expect from her upcoming album, and deliberated who has more intense fans – herself or The 1975. Watch our video interview above.
The pop pioneer was talking to NME at the BRITs 2024, where she appeared as a guest presenter. The ceremony at The O2 in London came shortly after Charli announced details of her upcoming album ‘Brat’ and dropped the club-ready new single ‘Von Dutch’.
“It’s kind of bitchy and gossipy and hardcore and very club feeling,” she told NME about the album. “It’s definitely one for the girls who like to party and sweat and rave.”
She continued: “I feel good about the music. Every artist says this about their new record but I really do feel like this is my best music [yet]. I’m super excited.”
Previously, Charli claimed that the album will see her return to her roots in club music, and will also feature a song dedicated to the late singer, producer and DJ SOPHIE, who was her longtime friend and collaborator.
Ellaborating on the song, Charli told NME: “It’s probably not as simply put as [a tribute] but there is a song on the record which talks about my relationship with SOPHIE. Essentially, dealing with grief is what the song is about. It’s very real. All the lyrics are things that I would text my friends – the kind of dialogue and the voice of this record is very conversational and very diar-etic for sure.”
In January 2021, the highly influential DJ and producer died at the age of 34 in a tragic accident in Athens.
Charli and SOPHIE worked together on many projects, beginning in 2015 with the former’s ‘Vroom Vroom’ EP. They went on to collaborate on the singles ‘After the Afterparty’, ‘No Angel’, and ‘Girls Night Out’, as well as the ‘Number 1 Angel’ tracks ‘Roll With Me’ and ‘Lipgloss’, and ‘Pop 2’ track ‘Out of My Head’.
Charli also deliberated whether her fans are more intense than those of her fiancé, The 1975’s George Daniel.
“Good question! I think the super fans of both parties really do have something quite intense about them,” she said. “I think it would be a fight to the death to be honest, which I hope never happens…”
‘Brat’ will follow her 2022 LP ‘Crash’. In a four-star review of the album, NME wrote: “Since the beginning, we’ve seen Charli XCX trying on many guises, whether she’s referencing new-wave on ‘Sucker’ or teaming up with SOPHIE to craft an alien new interpretation of pop on her 2016 EP ‘Vroom Vroom’.
“One emotion that her music will never evoke is boredom, and even when her sights are trained on infiltrating mainstream pop, she’s still an artist with a knack for surprising. If ‘Crash’ really does mark the death of Charli XCX as a major label artist – what a way to go.”