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Music
Baring It All
Charli admits that some of her
earlier work was based on fiction—
she wasn’t ready to be fully open.
But with her latest effort, she
finally decided to lay out her fears
and feelings of self-doubt. “I’ve
spoken a lot about not just being
insecure but the insecurities
of your position as an artist, which
I feel like artists don’t talk about
often because it’s a scary thing to
do,” she says. Though Charli is rife
with the star’s familiar mix of
party tracks, she also hones in on
the good and bad of being a
singer, which she says includes
constantly comparing yourself
with others and “always having a
f---ing breakdown inside.”
Tackling Pressure
For Charli, there’s an overwhelm-
ing sense that in any room she
walks into there’s pressure, which
stirs up her own nerves. So how
does she tackle that? With parties,
of course. “I think why I like partying
so much is because I can just
forget about [the pressure]—which
isn’t that healthy, I know, but I’m
not ready to tackle that just yet,” she
says, laughing.
Pushing Forward
“I think sometimes there’s a fear
that people will be like, ‘Oh, shut up,
what do you have to complain
about? You’re so incredibly lucky to
be in the position you’re in,’ which
we are,” says Charli, about the
nature of airing her issues as a pub-
lic figure. “But I think the reason
we are artists is because we have
a drive, and also because there’s
enjoying the highs and there’s
something really f---ed up [we get]
out of the lows because it makes
the highs feel so good.”
Getting Personal
The third single off Charli XCX’s
new record is “Gone,” a pulsating,
pop-filled anxiety spiral featuring
French avant-pop artist Christine
and the Queens. Though the lyrics
about vulnerability and feeling
unstable are a shift from Charli’s
previous work, she insists the track
is a hint of what listeners can
expect on the full eponymous proj-
ect—which she calls her “most
personal album” yet. “It’s [a record]
where I talk a lot more about my
insecurities and my thoughts that
go on in my head every day about
the position I’m in as a person and
as an artist,” she tells EW.
THE 27-YEAR-OLD POP FUTURIST HAS BEEN HINTING AT A NEW ALBUM FOR YEARS—A PROMISE SHE FINALLY DELIVERS ON THIS MONTH WITH THE
VULNERABLE CHARLI. SHE EXPLAINS WHY THE PROJECT IS A DEPARTURE FROM THE PERSONA FANS HAVE FALLEN FOR. BY ILANA KAPLAN
The
Highs
and Lows
of
EW●COM OCTOBER 2019 113
MARCUS COOPER
