Charli XCX: Charli (2LP) [WARNER]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set is cut at 45 RPM and comes in a gatefold sleeve with printed inner sleeves. Critics praised its bold production and hooks, and "Gone" and "1999" are two of Charli's best-loved songs.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Cut at 45 RPM
• Gatefold jacket
• Printed inner sleeves
• Lyrics included
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Charli XCX has a habit of starting over when something doesn't feel right. After an earlier batch of demos went astray in 2017, she scrapped the whole project and began again with executive producer A. G. Cook, recording at Flume's studio in Los Angeles and then in Eagle Rock through early 2019.

The guest list is a who's who of pop's adventurous side: Troye Sivan on "1999" and "2099," Christine and the Queens on "Gone," Lizzo on "Blame It on Your Love," Haim on "Warm," Sky Ferreira on "Cross You Out," and Clairo and Yaeji on "February 2017." "White Mercedes" was cut at Andrew Watt's home, while "Next Level Charli" and "Click" race at full tilt. Cook's production is glossy one minute and gloriously glitchy the next, and critics heard avant-pop, electropop and hyperpop all at once. The Charli Live Tour kicked off in Atlanta a week after the album came out.

It started life as the third part of a mixtape trilogy and was nearly called Best Friends before Cook suggested simply Charli. Naming an album after yourself is usually a sign of confidence, and here it's also a fairly accurate description of the contents.

Also at Kops: more Charli XCX on vinyl · browse Pop

Tracklist

Listen

On Asylum / Atlantic, the 2019 album.