Since releasing her debut album True Romance in 2013, Charlotte Aitchison , better known as Charli XCX , has steadfastly refused to stick to the mainstream pop script, opting instead to alternate styles and soundscapes on her releases in ways none of his contemporaries has been able to follow. Whether she screams over fuzzy ’90s-inspired guitars, she tangles with dark witch-pop synths, or she mixes her honeyed vocals with raucous metal beats, Charli has proven there’s nowhere she can’t go. dare to go
As a hyperpop trailblazer, Charli has had an endless list of collaborators throughout her career that only grows, and though they often come from very different worlds, they all seem natural when working with her, as she has remarkable skill. to make those featured artists feel at home, from Haim to Brooke Candy , Yaeji , Kim Petras , Tommy Cash or Christine and The Queens .
At just 28 years old, Charli XCX ‘s reign in the world of pop is just beginning, so considering the British-born singer’s four studio albums, as well as four mixtapes, three EPs, and nearly 50 singles to her name so far, we decided to make a tally of the 8 best songs he has released to date. They accompany us? Here we go.
8. White Mercedes
Although Charli’s career is characterized by having singles made to make the masses dance, we start this list with one of her best tracks from the album Charli : White Mercedes . The track is an emotional hyperpop ballad, and according to an interview done by Charli in Paper, it’s about her relationship with her boyfriend Huck Wong . She explains that every time she gets back together, she becomes “this annoying, hectic person” and her boyfriend ends up getting hurt. She is chillingly beautiful in laying bare Charli’s pain.
7. Not Angel
No Angel had been floating around the internet ether for years, but after fans begged Charli to officially release it as a single, she finally relented. In an alternate universe, No Angel would have been the big second single from XCXWorld , but instead it’s an infectious deep cut. Melodically, the verses on No Angel contain some of the best moments of Charli’s career, which is why it’s on this list.
6. Track 10
Charli fans will surely recognize the final track on the Pop2 mixtape as the superior first iteration of Lizzo and Charli’s duet, Blame It On Your Love. Her second 2017 mixtape was accompanied by a note: “I was so lost for a while with who I was…fuck playing this game anymore.” This mixtape was the climax of her total freedom and the pop futurism we know her for; an experimental statement about what mainstream music could sound like freed from the shackles of record labels. The result: an unforgettable banger.
5. Boys
Boys proves that Charli is an expert at exceeding expectations: just when the world thought she was going to spend forever dressing in PVC and making provocative songs, she released Boys in 2017. It’s a dreamy ode to the hottest guys around, and the video is the absolute definition of female gaze in a pink pop bow: we have Diplo using puppies for dumbbells and Stormzy eating cereal. What more could you want?
4. Click (Feat. Tommy Cash & Kim Petras)
Click has the aggressive production of 100 gecs , umru, and AG Cook , and is absolutely divine. It begins with Charli scathingly saying all you bitches fucking wish before Kim Petras bursts in with sex appeal and ferocity, and Tommy Cash fills in the vocals by setting them on fire before the track leaps into total chaos. The best thing about Charli’s composition is that she is not afraid: she is untouchable. There is nowhere her mind does not go and her collaborators help her bring out that courage.
3. Pious Pious
Vroom Vroom was an incredible banger that accompanied an EP of the same name in 2016 and was widely recognized as a new no-compromise statement from Charli, who also announced the launch of her own record label, Vroom Vroom Recordings. This song was also the start of a creative partnership withelectronic music’s enfants terribles SOPHIE and AG Cook , making high-end pop as this track demonstrates.
2. Next Level Charli
Next Level Charli is one of those songs that we’re sure will open the rest of Charli’s sets until the end of time. Included on her album De ella Charli de ella, the track is both an invitation and a warning. With little more than some colorful synths and a beat to sing along to, Charli instructs us on how to party with her. She tells you to get in her lavender Lamborghini, but she also lets you know that she’s not going to obey the speed limit. From now on, the speed is maximum, and you might be better off taking the bus if you’re not willing to live with a little bit of danger.
1. Gone (Feat. Christine & The Queens)
And we got to number one on the list, Gone , which was Charli ‘s third single and found XCX on par with Christine and the Queens . The insatiable, effervescent energy of both artists offers a dreamlike vision of what female pop stars now look and sound like. The emotional accompanying video takes the song’s central imagery to a whole new level: two outsider artists bound in chains and fed up with being told what to do.
