Reviews

Charli XCX – Music, Fashion, Film

Music, Fashion, Film’s lead single “Rock Music” triggered a thousand opinion pieces on Charli’s latest pivot, but my take is far simpler: it just isn’t very good.

How do you even begin to follow up on a cultural juggernaut like BRAT? Charli XCX’s beloved sixth album turned the world a curious shade of green in 2024, breaking through in a way left-of-centre pop music rarely does in the Internet age. And it was a great record, too. But with the eyes of the world finally on the British star, what is her next move? Sustain the audience’s interest, or do whatever the hell she wants?

Charli clearly had a plan. First, release a soundtrack masquerading as an album—or an album masquerading as a soundtrack?—to gently ease the pressure, then quickly drop another full-length with guitars on it.

Both projects have been launched as events. The excellent John Cale collaboration “House” teased the underwhelming Wuthering Heights soundtrack. Meanwhile, Music, Fashion, Film’s lead single “Rock Music” triggered a thousand opinion pieces on Charli’s latest pivot. This makes perfect sense—she’s at that level now, where every new record is an event release. But that kind of magic doesn’t last forever, and the circus will move on rather swiftly if Charli persists with the kind of undercooked identity waffle found on Music, Fashion, Film.

The guitars are effectively a sideshow. A filter of sorts. This isn’t rock music. Charli hasn’t abandoned the dance floor. It’s all just window dressing, and most of the time it sounds strikingly joyless and distinctly mediocre. The worst aspect of her sonic choices, however, is just how much they expose her weak lyricism. Music, Fashion, Film is exhaustingly self-referential—I can’t recall a record with quite as many uses of “I” and “me”—and while there are moments of raw honesty, these are outweighed by embarrassing clunkers like “I’m a wife, I’m a kid, I’m destroyed, I’m a bitch” (from “I’m Afraid”), or my personal favourite, “Sometimes I wonder if you realise the way you come across/It’s kind of crazy/Wish you could be honest about your internal dialogue/It wouldn’t phase me,” from the pitiful “Persona.”

Alongside the decent enough “Rock Music,” the stuttering single “Camera” is an undoubted highlight. If Charli had taken these two songs and maybe the David Cronenberg spoken-word track if she was feeling arty, and bundled them with the highlights from Wuthering Heights, she would have had a very respectable follow-up to BRAT. Sadly, she didn’t, and instead we have a reasonable soundtrack, this bitter disappointment, and nagging sense that Charli XCX’s creative well is running dry.

Music, Fashion, Film is out now via Atlantic.