Fitting with the roguish spirit of her songs, Charli XCX's release schedule has never really lined up with other pop stars. Her album rollouts are long, protracted, and prone to reshaping; in lieu, she writes and records mixtapes, one-off singles and features on a whim, supposedly butting heads with label brass because of it. Recently, sheās taken to stamping a robotic āXCXā on most of her songs, in the style of Mike WiLL Made-Itās producer tag or Travis Scottās āStraight up!ā Itās a nod to her place in the pop landscape: slightly too abrasive and far too avant-garde to really compete on a Swift-level, Charli has become pop musicās premier tastemaker, curator and trendsetter.NOISEY: You were born in 1992, so you would have been seven in 1999, and Troye was born in 1995 so he would have been 4. Why do you think youāre nostalgic for a time you kinda barely lived in?
Charli XCX: When I was writing this song I wasnāt like āYou know what, I wish we could all go back to 1999.ā I wasnāt really thinking about it in such a serious way. I just thought that ā1999ā is a cool title and thereās definitely a really fun cool video to be made alongside the song. But when I was seven I was having fun, I was pretending to be Baby Spice, I was obsessed with Britney Spears. That was a pretty good time.Whatās your favourite ā90s song?
Probably either Whigfieldās āWhen I Think of You,ā or Whigfieldās āSaturday Night, which is more of the big hit, I suppose. I also really love āBelieveā by Cher.How did you and Troye connect initially?
Troye and I have known each other for a whileāweāve got a lot of mutual friendsāand a while ago, when I first moved into my house in LA, I was having a lot of house parties all the time, and a lot of people were just showing up. It was really cool, it was a really good vibe, and the first time I met Troye was when he came to one of the parties. We hung out a little bit and thatās how we first met.In the 90s, pop music was kind of an oligarchy, with just a few stars, but now with social media and niche fanbases itās kinda like anyone can be a star. Do you think thatās good or bad for the form?
I think itās been great. Pop music now is just a melting pot of so many types of artists writing so many types of songs. I think pop music is about personality now, and actually having something to say. Before, especially in the 90s, pop stars were basically marketing vehicles. Donāt get me wrong, some of them are my favourite pop starsāI love 90s pop musicābut I think thereās a lot more freedom and scope for different types of pop stars now. I think thatās really positive and really fun for the genre.Last year you released two mixtapes, this year youāve released four standalone singles, with ā1999ā being the fifth. Why have you chosen to go with less traditional release formats?
I feel like it gives me more freedom, and I just like to do things on my own terms. I like to release a lot of music quickly, because I write a lot of music very quickly, so doing it this way feels very good for me. It feels like a very creative, fast, disposable process, which is how I like to work. It feels like the right thing to be doing.Last year you said you wanted to make the best pop album of 2017ādo you think you did that?
Even though I technically called it a mixtape, I do think Pop 2 was like, really really good. I donāt know if Iād say the best, because thatās very cocky, but Iād definitely say it was in the top five best.Last year, a whole heap of your material leaked. How does that affect you on a personal and professional level?
On an emotional level, it was absolutely traumatic. It was really heartbreaking and made me feel really sad and depressed. On an everyday level, itās just something where Iām like ā Okay, that happenedā and now I have to get on with my life. Itās out there, itās the internet, you canāt really stop it. It is what it is. It was definitely stressful but I find that the less I talk about it, the less satisfied the people who did it are. So I try not to mention it too much.Youāve done big tours before, but this Reputation tour schedule is really grueling. How do you deal with that?
It is, and Iām also throwing a lot of parties afterwards on my own with Banoffee and Ceci G, who are also in my band, so itās a lot. But itās coolāthe tour is long but itās an experience Iām only ever gonna have once, because I think after this tour I wonāt open for anybody again. Iām really happy to be a part of it. Taylor is a really incredible artist and person whoās made me and Camila feel so welcome. Itās been long, but itās definitely been worth it.You curate this monthly playlist called āThe Motherfucking Futureā. Of everyone working right now, which artist is the motherfucking future?
RosalĆa, whoās an artist from Spain, is incredible. I went to see her perform at the Hollywood Bowl. Iām not someone who gets blown away by people with really incredible voices, but she does have an incredible voice. I had shivers. On top of that, sheās a really incredible performer with a real eye for staging, and her music videos are really amazing. And Iāll always think SOPHIE is the future. She, to me, is just such a groundbreaking producer, so special and unique in the way she creates sounds and writes songs. That recent album that she just released is so amazing. I cried when I listened to it for the first time, because itās just so beautiful.You said that last year was emotional for you. Has this one been better?
Last year, especially towards the end, I was dealing with a lot of emotional stress with things sort of relating to music, but sort of outside of it. I think Iāve definitely gotten more in touch with my emotions, which I think in turn has made me a lot more excited to go back into the studio and write. Iām quite a fragile person, which means thereās always gonna be good days and bad, but today Iām good. Itās good."1999" is out now via Asylum/Atlantic.Shaad D'Souza is Noisey's Australian editor. Follow him on Twitter.
Advertisement
Last yearās Number 1 Angel and Pop 2 mixtapes were testament to that role as a kind of A&R rep; handfuls of avant-popstars and forgotten treasures were pulled seemingly from nowhere to feature on those records, from Brazilian drag queen Pabllo Vittar to Chairliftās Caroline Polachek to goddamn Uffie. Like Willy Wonka building his ideal world in a hermetically sealed factory, Charliās music is a space where she redraws pop how she feels it should look, pulling former and future stars together in order to create a bizarro-world pop universe thatās simultaneously 90s-leaning and aggressively futurist.Today, Charli is dropping ā1999,ā a collaboration with Australian pop star Troye Sivan. Another exercise in meta-pop, ā1999āāwritten by Charli and Troye, alongside Noonie Bao, Brett McLaughlin, and producer Oscar Holterātakes a step away from the pop Eurotrance of recent singles āFocusā and āGirls Night Outā, and slots in nicely with Charliās other 90s throwbacks like Number 1 Angelās āBabygirlā or this yearās āNo Angelā. Replete with references with references to Britney Spears, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Eminem and MTV, ā1999ā finds Charli and Troye waxing lyrical about bubblegum popās golden age over hi-gloss synth stabs and a typically thick bassline.Charli describes it as āUR NEW FAV POP SONGā on Twitter, and while sheās fond of hyperbole, this one might be the real deal. Speaking on the phone about ā1999,ā Charli is charismatic and confident (āWeāve filmed a video for ā1999,āā she teases, āIām keeping it a secret but itās really good. Howās that for a hot exclusive?ā), and audibly excited for the trackās impending release. And while she doesnāt know whether her long-awaited third album will materialise in 2019, sheās got a pretty good idea of what the year might involve. āProbably more music, and more partying. Knowing me.ā
Advertisement
Charli XCX: When I was writing this song I wasnāt like āYou know what, I wish we could all go back to 1999.ā I wasnāt really thinking about it in such a serious way. I just thought that ā1999ā is a cool title and thereās definitely a really fun cool video to be made alongside the song. But when I was seven I was having fun, I was pretending to be Baby Spice, I was obsessed with Britney Spears. That was a pretty good time.Whatās your favourite ā90s song?
Probably either Whigfieldās āWhen I Think of You,ā or Whigfieldās āSaturday Night, which is more of the big hit, I suppose. I also really love āBelieveā by Cher.How did you and Troye connect initially?
Troye and I have known each other for a whileāweāve got a lot of mutual friendsāand a while ago, when I first moved into my house in LA, I was having a lot of house parties all the time, and a lot of people were just showing up. It was really cool, it was a really good vibe, and the first time I met Troye was when he came to one of the parties. We hung out a little bit and thatās how we first met.
From there, Iāve just grown to be such a huge fan of his music. I know that heās also into some of the stuff Iāve done, especially my recent mixtape Pop 2. We got each othersā numbers, and we spoke about doing a song together in the future, and when I wrote ā1999ā, I sent it over to him to see if heād be into it, and he was. Itās cool because I wasnāt sure whether I was gonna keep it for myself, but the fact that Troye was into it made me reconsider. I feel like he has really good taste, and I was really into him as a pop starāI just think heās so greatāand I really trust his judgement. He did a verse and wrote his middle eight and then it justā¦ happened.
Advertisement
I think itās been great. Pop music now is just a melting pot of so many types of artists writing so many types of songs. I think pop music is about personality now, and actually having something to say. Before, especially in the 90s, pop stars were basically marketing vehicles. Donāt get me wrong, some of them are my favourite pop starsāI love 90s pop musicābut I think thereās a lot more freedom and scope for different types of pop stars now. I think thatās really positive and really fun for the genre.Last year you released two mixtapes, this year youāve released four standalone singles, with ā1999ā being the fifth. Why have you chosen to go with less traditional release formats?
I feel like it gives me more freedom, and I just like to do things on my own terms. I like to release a lot of music quickly, because I write a lot of music very quickly, so doing it this way feels very good for me. It feels like a very creative, fast, disposable process, which is how I like to work. It feels like the right thing to be doing.Last year you said you wanted to make the best pop album of 2017ādo you think you did that?
Even though I technically called it a mixtape, I do think Pop 2 was like, really really good. I donāt know if Iād say the best, because thatās very cocky, but Iād definitely say it was in the top five best.
Advertisement
On an emotional level, it was absolutely traumatic. It was really heartbreaking and made me feel really sad and depressed. On an everyday level, itās just something where Iām like ā Okay, that happenedā and now I have to get on with my life. Itās out there, itās the internet, you canāt really stop it. It is what it is. It was definitely stressful but I find that the less I talk about it, the less satisfied the people who did it are. So I try not to mention it too much.Youāve done big tours before, but this Reputation tour schedule is really grueling. How do you deal with that?
It is, and Iām also throwing a lot of parties afterwards on my own with Banoffee and Ceci G, who are also in my band, so itās a lot. But itās coolāthe tour is long but itās an experience Iām only ever gonna have once, because I think after this tour I wonāt open for anybody again. Iām really happy to be a part of it. Taylor is a really incredible artist and person whoās made me and Camila feel so welcome. Itās been long, but itās definitely been worth it.You curate this monthly playlist called āThe Motherfucking Futureā. Of everyone working right now, which artist is the motherfucking future?
RosalĆa, whoās an artist from Spain, is incredible. I went to see her perform at the Hollywood Bowl. Iām not someone who gets blown away by people with really incredible voices, but she does have an incredible voice. I had shivers. On top of that, sheās a really incredible performer with a real eye for staging, and her music videos are really amazing. And Iāll always think SOPHIE is the future. She, to me, is just such a groundbreaking producer, so special and unique in the way she creates sounds and writes songs. That recent album that she just released is so amazing. I cried when I listened to it for the first time, because itās just so beautiful.You said that last year was emotional for you. Has this one been better?
Last year, especially towards the end, I was dealing with a lot of emotional stress with things sort of relating to music, but sort of outside of it. I think Iāve definitely gotten more in touch with my emotions, which I think in turn has made me a lot more excited to go back into the studio and write. Iām quite a fragile person, which means thereās always gonna be good days and bad, but today Iām good. Itās good."1999" is out now via Asylum/Atlantic.Shaad D'Souza is Noisey's Australian editor. Follow him on Twitter.