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Who is Charli XCX?
Charli XCX may only be 21 years old but she has been touted as one to watch since she was spotted as a 14-year-old electro Goth-styled junior raver. And here she is, at long last, sitting pretty at the top of the US singles chart, surely the most coveted spot for any British artist.
How did she get here?
She hitched a ride with hot Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. XCX co-wrote the hit single Fancy, singing the cocky chorus, declaring “I’m so fancy!” She appears in the Clueless-themed video, playing the Brittany Murphy character to Azalea’s Alicia Silverstone. Blonde model Azalea may be getting the credit, but dark-haired, black-lipsticked, kookily-styled XCX steals the show with the most addictive sugar rush pop hook of the summer.
Her own single, celebratory love song Boom Clap, has been rush-released from the soundtrack of weepie teen romance The Fault in Our Stars and became the highest new entry in the US Billboard Top 100 this week. It may only be number 62, but it’s a start.
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The Fault in Our Stars: 'tenderly performed' 17 Jun 2014
What took her so long?
Hertfordshire native Charlotte Emma Atchison (as she is known to her parents) self-released her home made 2008 debut album, 14, when she was just (you guessed it) 14 years old. The jail bait styling extended to her stage name, which is either a bad Roman numeral version of 100 or, according to XCX herself, “X-rated **** X-rated” (you don't need much imagination to work out what the C stands for). She signed to Asylum/Atlantic records (part of the Warner group) at 16 and began developing a persona somewhere between overtly commercial teen pop and arty, Goth-styled electro.
Someone seemed to be trying to promote her as the UK Lady Gaga but, despite catchy tracks such as You’re The One, XCX never quite caught the imagination of the general public. Her 2013 album, True Romance, was a total flop. And there most fledgling pop careers would have ignominiously ended, depositing XCX on the scrap heap at just 20 years old. The days of second chances in the music business are generally deemed to be long gone and there is no shortage of other potential "next big things" waiting for their chance in the spotlight.
Where did it all go right?
Charli XCX may not have had a hit in her own right but she did have a hit, and what a stonker it was. She co-wrote (with producer Patrick Bergin) shouty punk pop belter I Love It, which became an international smash in 2012 for Swedish duo Icona Pop, notching up nearly three million downloads and over 70 million YouTube views. XCX was credited as guest artist, even though she only sang one line on the chorus. Apparently she hadn’t liked the song enough to record it herself, but at least it was evidence of her talent, before her collaboration with Iggy Azalea sealed the deal. She seems to be lightening up too. Her video for the upbeat Boom Clap leaves the Goth look behind and sees her dressed in pink with bright red lipstick. Well, she’s only 21. She’s entitled to change her mind about things.
Why should we care?
Sometimes wannabe pop starlets seem interchangeable. But XCX may yet prove to be something special, having provided the hook on two of the catchiest songs of the past two years. Her music exists within the mainstream but it has a quirky edge to it, and she seems to have real personality, as well as offbeat tastes. When she cites influences, she reaches for names like Björk, Siouxsie Sioux and Quentin Tarantino, and talks about music with the vivid colour coding of a synesthetic: “When I think about music I think about gold, blood rushing… at the moment, the music I am making is like an explosion of love, romanticised and floral”.
Who is Charli XCX?
Charli XCX may only be 21 years old but she has been touted as one to watch since she was spotted as a 14-year-old electro Goth-styled junior raver. And here she is, at long last, sitting pretty at the top of the US singles chart, surely the most coveted spot for any British artist.
How did she get here?
She hitched a ride with hot Australian rapper Iggy Azalea. XCX co-wrote the hit single Fancy, singing the cocky chorus, declaring “I’m so fancy!” She appears in the Clueless-themed video, playing the Brittany Murphy character to Azalea’s Alicia Silverstone. Blonde model Azalea may be getting the credit, but dark-haired, black-lipsticked, kookily-styled XCX steals the show with the most addictive sugar rush pop hook of the summer.
Her own single, celebratory love song Boom Clap, has been rush-released from the soundtrack of weepie teen romance The Fault in Our Stars and became the highest new entry in the US Billboard Top 100 this week. It may only be number 62, but it’s a start.
Related Articles
Klaxons, Love Frequency, review: 'nondescript' 17 Jun 2014
The Fault in Our Stars: 'tenderly performed' 17 Jun 2014
What took her so long?
Hertfordshire native Charlotte Emma Atchison (as she is known to her parents) self-released her home made 2008 debut album, 14, when she was just (you guessed it) 14 years old. The jail bait styling extended to her stage name, which is either a bad Roman numeral version of 100 or, according to XCX herself, “X-rated **** X-rated” (you don't need much imagination to work out what the C stands for). She signed to Asylum/Atlantic records (part of the Warner group) at 16 and began developing a persona somewhere between overtly commercial teen pop and arty, Goth-styled electro.
Someone seemed to be trying to promote her as the UK Lady Gaga but, despite catchy tracks such as You’re The One, XCX never quite caught the imagination of the general public. Her 2013 album, True Romance, was a total flop. And there most fledgling pop careers would have ignominiously ended, depositing XCX on the scrap heap at just 20 years old. The days of second chances in the music business are generally deemed to be long gone and there is no shortage of other potential "next big things" waiting for their chance in the spotlight.
Where did it all go right?
Charli XCX may not have had a hit in her own right but she did have a hit, and what a stonker it was. She co-wrote (with producer Patrick Bergin) shouty punk pop belter I Love It, which became an international smash in 2012 for Swedish duo Icona Pop, notching up nearly three million downloads and over 70 million YouTube views. XCX was credited as guest artist, even though she only sang one line on the chorus. Apparently she hadn’t liked the song enough to record it herself, but at least it was evidence of her talent, before her collaboration with Iggy Azalea sealed the deal. She seems to be lightening up too. Her video for the upbeat Boom Clap leaves the Goth look behind and sees her dressed in pink with bright red lipstick. Well, she’s only 21. She’s entitled to change her mind about things.
Why should we care?
Sometimes wannabe pop starlets seem interchangeable. But XCX may yet prove to be something special, having provided the hook on two of the catchiest songs of the past two years. Her music exists within the mainstream but it has a quirky edge to it, and she seems to have real personality, as well as offbeat tastes. When she cites influences, she reaches for names like Björk, Siouxsie Sioux and Quentin Tarantino, and talks about music with the vivid colour coding of a synesthetic: “When I think about music I think about gold, blood rushing… at the moment, the music I am making is like an explosion of love, romanticised and floral”.
Charli XCX may only be 21 years old but she has been touted as one to watch since she was spotted as a 14-year-old electro Goth-styled junior raver.
