Charli XCX: True Romance

By Alif Omar Mahfix • 07 Jun 2013 in Review

Thirsty for JUICE content? Quench your cravings on our Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp

WE LOVE IT
Briton Charli XCX makes the kind of electropop music you would expect from the bigger world of Euro, think Robyn and Cocovan. It only makes sense then that she was responsible for co-writingg Icona Pop’s smash hit ‘I Love You’, a Eurotrash song for Generation Y-ers (“You’re from the ‘70s, and I’m a ‘90s bitch.”).

At only 20 years old, she has had opened for the likes of Santigold, Sleigh Bells, Marina and the Diamonds, and Ellie Goulding, and one listen to her debut True Romance you can detect each one of those acts etched in her musical DNA. Opener ‘Nuclear Sessions’ rings of Santigold, ‘Set Me Free (Feel My Pain)’ echoes Marina and the Diamonds, ‘What I Like’ appropriates Sleigh Bells noise pop and takes it to electropop highs, while ‘Cloud Aura’ unfortunately mimics the worst of the likes of Dev and Ke$ha (the album’s greatest misstep in our opinion).

Much like Quentin Tarantino – writer of the movie that inspired the album’s namesake – Charli is a collector of cultural detritus, appropriating influences from eras she’d never lived through, which is ironic given the emphasis on generational gap on the aforementioned Icona Pop track.

However, True Romance doesn’t exactly channel ‘80s synth pop and ‘90s girl groups, instead it sorta estimates the sound through the musical acumen of a 20 year old girl from Britain. It doesn’t always work, but we love our pop with distinctive personality over whatever calculated act big labels have to offer.

LISTEN TO: ‘What I Like’
IF YOU LIKE THIS YOU’LL DIG: Icona Pop
RATING: 3.5