It's been quite the ascension for CHARLI XCX over these past couple of years...the now 24 year old singer/songwriter grabbed a lot of people's attention back in 2013 with her debut; "True Romance" and ever since has gone on to take the pop-world by storm. Not afraid to mix it up, Charli (real name Charlotte Aitchison) easily fleets between soft, electronic synth-pop, darker EDM tones and grimy post-R'n'B and it's this versatility that's allowed her to make a name for herself, not afraid to gamble musically and really, from a marketing point of view, it's paid off. An impressive collection of stand-alone tracks too, sharing vocals with the likes of Simon LeBon from DURAN DURAN for example, have helped propel her to stardom, so now, full of confidence, she's back with album number three; "Number 1 Angel"...can this modern day Spice Girl back up such a claim? Let's find out...
We open up with "Dreamer" and it's quite appropriately very ambient and subdued. Musically, initially at least it's quite light in mood, soft and synthetic but the R'n'B vocals, especially those of guests STARRAH and RAYE, are soaked in auto-tune, adding to the tracks cold delivery, never getting out of second gear as such...really we have an elongated introduction, it really does just act as a glorified intro track, nothing more than a warm up...or so we thought, sadly there a couple of examples of this sprinkled throughout this record. "Blame It On You" utilizes more of the R'n'B inspired semi-rap, auto-tune fueled approach, it's got soft-dance elements towards the tracks climax giving it a little more life but, too little too late, while "Babygirl", despite a fresh-feeling 80's Summertime vibe, suffers greatly from UFFIE's guest vocals...they really are awful...and it's still no more than a slow jam, there's no life here.
Slow doesn't necessarily equate to negative mind you, "White Roses", with it's minimalist electronica, plus "Emotional"; a deep ballad capitalizing on Charli's raw vocals...it's really self-explanatory, rich in passion with a bold chorus arrangement, it's a throwback to her debut and is very welcome here, before we finish up on a much stronger note. "Lipgloss" is far more up-tempo and energetic and has all the hallmarks of a future floor-filler...the right remix could make this track HUGE...CUPCAKKE provides probably the records best rap content and really this is simply a lot better, but the best thing by far about this album, is "Drugs"...no, you don't NEED to take any in order to enjoy your listen (however I wont judge) but the song itself is superb. Deep, dark sultry electronica and featuring ABRA on more guest vocals, it's almost seductive, harking back to the likes of "Nuclear Seasons"...finishing the album on a much needed positive note.
I said previously that Charli likes to mix it up a bit and here she's proven that once again...while "Sucker" was an unashamedly colourful, bouncy pop record, and, really, the less said about the "Vroom Vroom" EP the better...this album here again shows an expansion of her character. It may not have massive tunes like "Break The Rules" and for whatever reason, doesn't include recent single "After The Afterparty", but her willingness to mix and match genre's has to be applauded. IS SHE number one angel? It might be a little too early to tell...but whatever you do, for fuck sake don't tell Corey Feldman! [5]
We open up with "Dreamer" and it's quite appropriately very ambient and subdued. Musically, initially at least it's quite light in mood, soft and synthetic but the R'n'B vocals, especially those of guests STARRAH and RAYE, are soaked in auto-tune, adding to the tracks cold delivery, never getting out of second gear as such...really we have an elongated introduction, it really does just act as a glorified intro track, nothing more than a warm up...or so we thought, sadly there a couple of examples of this sprinkled throughout this record. "Blame It On You" utilizes more of the R'n'B inspired semi-rap, auto-tune fueled approach, it's got soft-dance elements towards the tracks climax giving it a little more life but, too little too late, while "Babygirl", despite a fresh-feeling 80's Summertime vibe, suffers greatly from UFFIE's guest vocals...they really are awful...and it's still no more than a slow jam, there's no life here.
Slow doesn't necessarily equate to negative mind you, "White Roses", with it's minimalist electronica, plus "Emotional"; a deep ballad capitalizing on Charli's raw vocals...it's really self-explanatory, rich in passion with a bold chorus arrangement, it's a throwback to her debut and is very welcome here, before we finish up on a much stronger note. "Lipgloss" is far more up-tempo and energetic and has all the hallmarks of a future floor-filler...the right remix could make this track HUGE...CUPCAKKE provides probably the records best rap content and really this is simply a lot better, but the best thing by far about this album, is "Drugs"...no, you don't NEED to take any in order to enjoy your listen (however I wont judge) but the song itself is superb. Deep, dark sultry electronica and featuring ABRA on more guest vocals, it's almost seductive, harking back to the likes of "Nuclear Seasons"...finishing the album on a much needed positive note.
I said previously that Charli likes to mix it up a bit and here she's proven that once again...while "Sucker" was an unashamedly colourful, bouncy pop record, and, really, the less said about the "Vroom Vroom" EP the better...this album here again shows an expansion of her character. It may not have massive tunes like "Break The Rules" and for whatever reason, doesn't include recent single "After The Afterparty", but her willingness to mix and match genre's has to be applauded. IS SHE number one angel? It might be a little too early to tell...but whatever you do, for fuck sake don't tell Corey Feldman! [5]
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