Atlantic
Producers: A.G. Cook, Finn Keane
Thirteen years after the release of her debut True Romance album, British pop artist Charli xcx has dropped her seventh full-lengther and, while not the year’s best album by any means, it offers further proof that her musical journey is a rewarding one, both for her fans and herself. It’s gratifying to see Charli xcx having a Gaga-esque period of her career where the naysayers, the people decrying her for being over-produced and over-stylized, are being silenced by the sheer quality of her recent output, this album included.
Music, Fashion, Film has also arrived just a few months after Charli xcx’s soundtrack for the recent Wuthering Heights movie, and in many ways, it feels like a continuation of that, more so than 2024’s much-heralded Brat. This is pop, sure, but it’s so much more. The artist, and we use that word deliberately, does her thing of taking the listener on a rollercoaster of emotions with the backdrop of contemporary life looming over everything. But it’s the left turns that she takes on a song like “Yeah” or “Persona,” where she’ll just slam on the brakes seemingly on a whim (though obviously not really).
There are moments that feel bleak, others that are lush. She lashes out on “Camera,” justifiably so. And then unleashes melody overload on “Magic Metal Montana.” The albums ends with “No One Lasts Forever,” a collab with movie legend David Cronenberg, which included the line “You need to understand the feeling, of the crushing highs and lows of ego.” One gets the feeling that, as she continues this journey, she’s understanding it more and more.
