Hi, everyone. Musicthony Fashion Filmtano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Charli xcx album, Music, Fashion, Film.

Here we have a brand new record from Miss Charli xcx, a modern pop phenomenon who hails from the UK. It's no secret that Charli recently has become one of the most interesting and talked about figures on the modern pop landscape, thanks mostly to the unforeseen viral success of her last album, brat – which is a 10 out of 10, by the way. Woo!

It was a very good record, but a record whose quality was no surprise to those who have been following the trajectory of her career since around the beginning, back when she broke in the early 2010s. You could argue Charli's modern pop sound and the impact that it's having really kind of began with the 2016 Vroom Vroom EP. That was my EP of the year that year, and that project really saw her sowing seeds of deconstructed club and hyperpop that she would later reap quite successfully on following records.

But this process took time. Charli's always kind of walking fine lines between mass appeal, artistic narrative, and creative experimentation. Sometimes I think this has led her, especially lately, to over-explaining the nature and context of her work. She's been doing a lot of commentary and interviews behind this new album here, talking about pop stardom, anti-marketing. She did say at least one thing that I thought was really poignant when it came to this album and her catalog at large, and that's the idea of all of her albums working in opposites – which, for better or worse, I could most definitely see.

For example, you have the raw, fun, joy, and experimentation of her mixtapes, Number One Angel and Pop 2, and the way those sounds and ideas were then refined down into a much more commercial and streamlined version of that on the self-titled Charli album. Then moving from there into the feelings of isolation and super aggressive production, more hyperpop vibes on the pandemic era, How I'm Feeling Now. Then going from there into what was essentially her mainstream grab at the time, Crash, a record that, yes, was shooting for the charts, but didn't quite have the results that Charli had hoped for.

And then after that, you have brat, where Charli is, throwing more caution to the wind, playing more to her strengths, and not going for that mass appeal or that mainstream acclaim, and yet somehow getting it anyway. Which leaves us now with Music, Fashion, Film, a record that was controversial from the drop of its album cover, featuring three famous figures who are known for their influence and impact in these different creative fields. Fields that Charli is also known for not only actively participating in, but also being a source of inspiration for her.

And even before a second of music on this record saw the light of day, it was already becoming clear that this project would be a different experience from brat. Not a party album, not an album that has club appeal, not one for the dance floor, but that's a pretty skin-deep observation, one that I think Charli was really trying to lead a lot of her fans to, like horses to water, with the lead single "Rock Music."

And yeah, we are rocking. There are guitars and rock drum beats all over this album. But I doubt this album is going to penetrate for true rock aficionados, as the production and instrumentals just feel far too stiff and segmented to convey a true rock sound. However, I think that's very intentional. Charle could have easily, at this point in her career, put herself and A.G. Cook and anybody else in a studio with a live band and sort of done this thing that way, but they didn't.

And as underwhelming as some of these singles were on the rock front upon first introduction, I do have to say, now that I've heard the entire album, it's very clear that Charli and A.G. Cook are making very clear, conscious, aesthetic decisions here in terms of how these songs are assembled. Very straightforward, bare, raw, sequenced drum beats, loops upon loops of guitar riffs, micro-sampled chunks of guitars and stabs that are thrown into the mix, too. Guitar leads and noises that are just stretched beyond belief, caked in distortion.

It's funny, going into this record, I actually presumed some of the guitar tones would be maybe a little too clean or boring or bland, but during some moments on this album the guitar aesthetics are as gnarly as maybe what you'd find on a Jack White album, but a little stranger. There are some moments here and there where I feel like these instrumentals and mixes go hard enough for the experience of this particular album, but don't expect a super cathartic experience that's going to rival that of your favorite punk album, because really these new rock vibes that Charli and A.G. are bringing to this album are really a vehicle for something else.

And no, that something else isn't music, fashion, or film, because the narratives and lyrics and emotions around this album show Charli changing from that party girl, which she kind of explained on brat was a presentation, a façade, as it were, a "persona," and essentially giving herself permission on this LP to turn fully inward and process what exactly has been going on, in her head and in her life, for the past few years, and really dig into the double-edged sword of Charli's success, as she's clearly somebody who has long vied for fame but simultaneously openly struggles with how to handle that, and clearly feels its weight maybe more than other artists who soak the limelight up, like an alcoholic just guzzling vodka shots without a second thought.

So again, overall, I don't think this record is really for the rock fans or the brats. I think more than that, this album is for her. And that doesn't mean Charli isn't still in conversation with her audience on this record, she definitely is. But maybe only the segments of that audience that are invested in the broader artistic trajectory that she has going, and commentary that can run a little bit meta and existential. So if you've only arrived for the party atmosphere that brat brought to the table, you might want to sit this one out, especially since the table has been snorted clean of any trace of cocaine at this point.

So yeah, this whole record starts off with "Rock Music," a cheeky single, and maybe the most outwardly fun song on the entire album. I wasn't crazy about it as a teaser but I definitely appreciated it a lot more as the kickoff to this thing, because not only is it pretty catchy between its roaring riffs, campy talk-sung vocals, and little skippy edits on the chorus, but it's also a nice moment of levity before we are tossed into pits of despair, which we begin to step into "SS26," which is a lot moodier off the jump between its easy-going drum machine beats and clean guitar tones, Charli bringing a super dry, intimate vocal to the table and singing as gently as possible.

It's on this track that we first see the title referenced – Music, Fashion, Film – and these things aren't mentioned in a moment of reverence for these art forms, or the light that these things bring to Charli's life. No, she actually talks about feeling disillusioned with these things, or at least feel that they will not save her or us in the midst of the world going to hell. It's not that these things don't still matter per se, but they feel a lot smaller and less important during a time when, again, the state of things is not so great.

We also, again, like I said, have meta commentary in the lyrics of this track, Charli referencing her politics, "Kamala is brat," her heritage, and those not maybe giving her the acceptance or mainstream juice that she was hoping for, once she actually did kind of get that mass appeal type exposure. It's a little cynical, but also her kind of reckoning with the foolish presumptions that she had of fame before she felt like she really, truly attained it.

The song "Card Declined" pulls us even further into these feelings of disenchantment with regard to materialism, clothing, bags, new looks, new personas. None of these things for Charli are maybe fulfilling in the way that they once were, or were expected to. Between the heavy beats, scuzzy guitars, and depressed vocals, you really feel intensely the negativity of this song, which also features this warped, stretched, absolutely miserable finish that's honestly strange, nightmarish, and kind of unnerving.

The song "Camera" has some of the most interesting production on the record, all of these skittering, dry guitar bits. Charli, once again, is making sense of her own fame, kind of addressing elements of it that maybe make it feel like it makes no sense, or it's untenable, or even a little cringe. But the idea of performing – what happens when the camera is on her, being in that spotlight – it's so intoxicating and attractive, she throws all of that to the side and just does it anyway, with one of the most visceral and euphoric choruses on the entire album, super blissful synth layers and guitars, plus a bridge that really truly explains it all if the verses hadn't already made it obvious enough.

"2007" is a throwback track, which Charli is no stranger to ("1999"), and it feels like a bit of a nostalgic touch of yearning for her early pop star days, which is fine, is okay. I think a trip down memory lane like this makes sense within the context of an album with this story. I just wish Charli had a little bit more to say about it, to kind of make the desires here and the feelings make sense, because it's not like she hasn't sort of expressed similar sentiments before. What does this song add to those previous moments where she was doing something similar? That's the question.

"I'm Afraid," though, is another moment on this record where Charli, yes, once again, is addressing previously expressed feelings of fear and worry that she is a bad lover, somebody who kind of ruins the relationships that she enters into. She is doing that once again here with what I would say are some Nirvana Unplugged vibes. Raw acoustic guitars, pained lead vocals that are very low-key, but still very, very, very heart-wrenching, and what sounds like some booming double bass too.

And Charli is, once again, essentially tortured by this idea that she's going to fuck up her relationship, fuck up her marriage entirely. Which, again, similar sentiments expressed before, but with her being married now and the point that she's at in her life, it feels like the stakes are even higher than they've ever been, making this, I would say, the most emotionally intense track that she's ever sung with these kinds of themes.

The song "Yeah" is kind of a silly detour with some of the heaviest guitar passages on the entire record, yes. That's definitely a cool thing about it, but I kind of wanted a little bit more from it on the lyrical side, especially given how obvious the topic and point of this song is. Charli addressing not only her own fickle creativity, willingness to go in different directions, try different things, feeling hot and cold on different ideas at different times, but also kind of experiencing the audience going through something similar. Oh, you don't want this, you're not into this, oh, lo and behold, you're into this now all of a sudden.

That's a valid point and idea to relay on a record like this, but I wish she was a little bit more balls to the wall in terms of what she's really trying to get across here. Trying to avoid laying it all out there on an album that is pretty much laying it all out there – and more, on every other topic that is addressed in its tracklist – seems a little uncharacteristic.

Following this, though, I do like "Wink Wink," a track that, to my eyes and ears, is all about a loss of innocence and kind of explaining, maybe, to detractors that the bad girl, party girl, cokehead persona that she has kind of been painted with, that she has knowingly played into, isn't necessarily the real her. I especially like the production on this track: another pumping chorus with lots of synthesizers, some strange deflating background vocals that are ear-grabbing from the moment they appear.

And then as we move into the final leg, this project continues to dish out interesting moments. Like "Persona," which I think is really the "girl, so confusing" of the album in terms of, when reading the lyrics, I really wonder who the hell this is about, as the track seems to paint a dynamic within a friendship that is very complicated and frustrating, with all of the weird characteristics of this connection being buried within layers of fried, distorted, stretched guitars – really the weirdest guitars on the entire album. It sounds like an '80s pop-rock tune, but demented. It's not my favorite track here but, sonically, it is attention-grabbing for sure.

"Magic Metal Montana" is very clear in its themes and intentions. It is a tribute to one of her closest friends and collaborators, A.G. Cook. It's a wonderful, cute, endearing little commentary, but one that is kind of bittersweet as well. Because as somebody who has been following Charli's career for a while, it's hard not to feel as if her motivations are painted at least a little bit by the tragic loss of SOPHIE. This person who obviously, at one point, was one of her most significant and inspiring collaborators who suddenly she lost, and then had to wrestle with the regret of having not said everything she wanted to say and having to live with where things were left off.

It's clear that she doesn't want to make the same mistake with A. G. and, honestly, that's a pretty moving motivation. It's from there that it's pretty logical for Charli to kind of off-ramp into these feelings around mortality and death and legacy on the closing track, which features words from the great David Cronenberg. From what I understand, I guess, the audio David has on this track comes from an interview and a conversation Charli had with him, where he relayed, I guess, like a near-death experience. And in this moment, when he was facing his own death, he didn't really think at all about art, his own art, how he would be perceived after he passed away. And this led almost to an ego death moment, which I think this track is very much about.

And I wanna make it clear, though, this is like a very sweet, catchy, almost I would say weirdly feel-good moment at the finish of the record, because it's not like a dark, nihilistic, "Oh, we're all gonna die, nothing matters" sort of thing. It's more a [brighter] "We're all gonna die and nothing matters" sort of thing. There's almost a freedom in that realization, that after we're gone and it's all gone, everything that we're that we're worried about and stressed about and anxious about is no longer gonna be weighing on us anyway, so why allow it to control how you feel and what you do now?

But yeah, overall, I loved this record. Maybe not quite as much as brat, and there are moments where its honesty and how unfiltered it is striking and beautiful and, I think, wonderful in terms of what makes it appealing. If anything, from tracks like "Yeah" and then maybe "2007," I was really hoping for more of that. Get more unfiltered. Get more honest. Get more open.

To put it bluntly, I don't think what Charli and A.G. were doing on this record was a bad move. If anything, they could have pushed it even further than they actually did. But for what Music, Fashion, Film actually is and what it actually accomplished, it's still really great and a truly special record in her catalog, even if it doesn't manage to gain the same amount of commercial and critical acclaim that its predecessor did.

Because, again, with the lesson that this album is trying to relay, this album doesn't need to do that. Who cares? What does it matter? The joy of life and experiences and friends, and so on and so forth, are far more significant than trying to build up a legacy that is ultimately going to be out of your control, especially once you're dead anyway.

I'm kinda going on but, again, I love the songs on this record. I love the messaging of this record. I love the aesthetics and production. I like the lyricism and what Charli's trying to get across here. I'm feeling a light to decent 8 on this.

Anthony Fantano. Charli xcx. Forever.