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[\/et_pb_code][et_pb_text module_class=”article-title” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#111111″ header_font_size=”68px” custom_margin=”40px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
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Charli XCX sees herself as a revolutionary force, and so do the fans who stream her synth-pop anthems in their millions. In 2019 Eve Barlow stepped into her LA mansion and heard the masterplan.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-main” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n
Words by Eve Barlow<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/07\/CHARLI-XCX_Logo.jpg” title_text=”CHARLI XCX_Logo” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n California dreaming: Charli XCX, aka Charlotte Emma Aitchison, at home in LA, 17 July, 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in the Beachwood Canyon area of Los Angeles and you spot an English-looking house somewhere beneath the Hollywood sign, it\u2019s probably the one belonging to Britain\u2019s best pop expat, Charli XCX.<\/p>\n Her Tudor manor is an oasis amid LA celebrity culture. It\u2019s the type of house you\u2019d imagine Eddy and Patsy gatecrashing in an Absolutely Fabulous spin-off; often filled with glamorous oddballs, playing host to infamous house parties that unite all manner of musicians, fashionistas, actors and the type of people who still look good on dancefloors at 5am. There\u2019s a cardboard cut-out of a black and pink cow in the garden, a neon palm tree in the living room, a refrigerator stocked with canned cocktails and window boxes of fake flowers descending over the outdoor patio. \u201cOh, they\u2019re fucking AWFUL,\u201d she screams, taking a seat beneath them. \u201cWe put them in a year ago. We never took them out. We hate them. I hate them.\u201d<\/p>\n Today, HQ is quiet. Charli XCX, born Charlotte Emma Aitchison, is a 24\/7 powerhouse and works as hard as she parties. During interviews, she\u2019s both a good laugh and seriously alert. Aitchison\u2019s team (two British 20-somethings named Twiggy and Sam) are tending to business in the dining room. They\u2019re her best friends from Hertfordshire \u2013 they\u2019ve all known each other since they were 11. Aitchison, 27, is finishing her second task today: an afternoon-long photoshoot for a magazine called Puss Puss that usually features cats. She\u2019s wearing a cream suit that gives her an air of CEO, except a CEO in platform trainers with nothing but a Nike sports bra under her blazer. She smells of sandalwood and cigarettes. Since Q is her final appointment, she\u2019s rummaging in the freezer for a cube of ice to dunk in her ros\u00e9.<\/p>\n This morning, Aitchison released a new single titled Gone, which features Christine And The Queens (aka Chris). It captures the qualities of both artists without taking away from either of them. Like most of Charli XCX\u2019s latest releases, Gone is couched in hard, restricted beats that sound like firecrackers going off in a steel container. \u2028But amid its dancefloor-ready cadence, Gone is a cry for connection. Chris\u2019s capacity for barefaced truth-telling has lent Aitchison what could be her most triumphant moment yet. Often her releases come as a surprise, involving eye-opening guest spots, and music videos that are catnip for GIF makers. Today it was all three.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you mind if I eat? I haven\u2019t eaten since breakfast,\u201d she says, mouth full, puffing on a cigarette. \u201cI feel good about this song. It\u2019s my favourite song I\u2019ve ever made.\u201d For Aitchison, collaborations aren\u2019t about cold monopolising of industry connects. Consistently she\u2019s said that she\u2019s never cared for record sales. She sees collaborations as turning friendships into art \u2013 a profit is a bonus. \u201cWorking with Chris has been so fun,\u201d she says. \u201cIt felt like I\u2019d known her for years. There were no boundaries. Everyone was as free as possible.\u201d You see the ease of their chemistry in the video. The plan was to choreograph it but Aitchison knows her limitations. She\u2019s a pop star, a hitmaker for hire, a shrewd businesswoman. But she\u2019s not a dancer? \u201cGuys, I can\u2019t learn choreography, are you joking? I\u2019m not gonna stand next to Chris and, like, do a dance. She\u2019s incredible. I just flail my arm over and over again!\u201d<\/p>\n Over the course of two albums, four mixtapes and a raft of one-off singles, Aitchison\u2019s songs have tended more towards aspirational abandon and partying. Gone is an inquisitive tune about the human condition \u2013 about loneliness. On Gone, she sings about feeling unwelcome among others: \u201cI feel so unstable, fucking hate these people, how they\u2019re making me feel lately.\u201d When discussing their collaboration, Aitchison and Chris shared their experiences of being in packed rooms. \u201cI get anxious a lot,\u201d says Aitchison, still grazing. \u201cEspecially when I have to be \u2018on\u2019 as a pop star, or whatever. Sometimes I feel insecure, paranoid, totally isolated. People feel that, whether they\u2019re pop stars or not. Chris and I were talking about times where we felt like, \u2018Fuck! So alone, so afraid.\u2019\u201d Chris wrote the lyrics. Aitchison wanted to sound like the French singer so it would feel like they\u2019re in it together.<\/p>\n In a way, these collaborations are the fuel for her success. In the past year she\u2019s released songs with Troye Sivan (1999), Diplo (Spicy), Tove Lo (Bitches), and even South Korean megastars BTS. She was one of the writers of UK Number 1 single Se\u00f1orita for Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello. She\u2019s also written for Blondie and Britney Spears. In her self-directed video for single Boys, she recruited famous male pals instead of appearing herself. Those included: Will.i.am, Mac DeMarco, Carl Bar\u00e2t from The Libertines, a Jonas brother, Stormzy and Ezra Koenig brushing his teeth.<\/p>\n She has an army of fans (known as her \u201cAngels\u201d) who herald her as the future of pop and she has an acute read on what they want. Her forthcoming third album is simply titled Charli. Collaborators on the tracklist range from rapper Lizzo, rock trio HAIM, avant-pop performer Sky Ferreira and indie-pop darling Clairo. It\u2019s an embarrassment of riches, so much so that Aitchison reveals she did a song with Grimes that didn\u2019t even make the final cut. \u201cWe\u2019d made a five-minute techno song, with no vocals,\u201d she laughs. \u201cWe need to figure that out.\u201d<\/p>\n Aitchison sees these team-ups as more than a mutually beneficial transaction. \u2028\u201cFor so long, collaboration has been a marketing tool to gain the benefit of both fanbases,\u201d she explains. \u201cMy collaborations are genuine and personal. It\u2019s never about bringing them into my world. I don\u2019t want them to do something Charli-esque. I want them to do them. My collaborators make my sound,\u201d she says. \u201cThey bring their language and their little ad libs. That\u2019s what makes it unique.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s particularly proud of working with Sky Ferreira. The elusive LA synth-popper barely works with anyone, besides David Lynch. How did she get her on the record? She tries to swallow some lettuce.<\/p>\n \u201cI sort of wonder the same thing. How did I get Sky?\u201d she asks herself. \u201cI had her number. I basically texted her. Not expecting a response. And she replied. I was like, \u2018Oh my God! Fuck! I can\u2019t believe it!\u2019\u201d After Ferreira had laid down vocals in the studio things went quiet. \u201cI thought, \u2018Oh no, I\u2019m the girl who lost Sky Ferreira. I\u2019m that girl. Fuck fuck fuck fuck!\u2019\u201d Eventually Ferreira reappeared. Aitchison drops to a whisper, still in gleeful shock. \u201cI knew people would freak out about that.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Aitchison grew up an only child in Essex, the daughter of a Ugandan immigrant and a Scottish businessman. She started writing songs at the age of 14, and made an album. It was called 14. The name Charli XCX comes from the MSN Messenger handle she had and it stuck after she was invited to play raves in London by a promoter. She was underage, her parents driving her there and back. Aitchison considers her story \u201cquite weird\u201d and unlike anyone else\u2019s she can think of. \u201cI tried to do a more punk-ish thing. In hindsight I\u2019m not sure I did it right.\u201d The album sounded more like Republica or Shampoo than anything Top 40 in 2014. She realised she was making music she wouldn\u2019t listen to. \u201cThat happens on major labels. You get trapped. \u2018Oh, that works, do it again!\u2019 \u2018You\u2019re pop now, go make pop records!\u2019 \u2028So you\u2019re like, \u2018Oh shit, yeah, because I like this level of success.\u2019\u201d Did it fulfil her artistically? \u201cIn parts, yes,\u201d she says. \u201cBut in parts, no.\u201d<\/p>\n During that time, I interviewed Aitchison in Las Vegas. She was at her lowest ebb. She was taking control of her career but her efforts also looked to be always falling on deaf ears. Despite being signed to a major, she spoke like an anti-capitalist, uninterested in the idea of art as a product, but one who knew how to sell. She was playing second fiddle to other artists on her label\u2019s roster, chasing big hits she already had. She was tired. \u201cYou can go crazy doing shit that you don\u2019t wanna do,\u201d she reflects now. Weeks later she pulled out of a tour she was on with Jack Antonoff\u2019s band Bleachers. \u201cI was so depressed,\u201d she says. \u201cI was hating everything.\u201d<\/p>\n But Aitchison doesn\u2019t regret her trio of hits. They bought this house and another back in England. More importantly, they bought her agency. People took her seriously as a songwriter. \u201cThe songs changed my life. They\u2019ve enabled me to continue working the way I want,\u201d she says. \u201cI learned so much about myself.\u201d She learned it alone. \u201cFrom the age of 16 to 19, I desperately wanted a crew,\u201d she says. \u201cI wanted to be a part of a scene. I was living in my parents\u2019 house, making music, going to school in the countryside. I\u2019d be on MySpace looking at [French record label] Ed Banger\u2019s page thinking, \u2018They\u2019re so cool doing club nights together.\u2019 That excited me.\u201d<\/p>\n Around the time of Sucker\u2019s release in 2014, Aitchison moved to LA. \u2028A little thereafter she discovered the London record label and collective, PC Music. She met their head, producer AG Cook, and was so impressed by his noise-laden approach, obsession with subverting cheesy pop and disdaining convention that she poached him for herself. He became Charli XCX\u2019s creative director and musical right-hand man, the first person she could trust entirely with her vision. They took Cook\u2019s collaboration-heavy world of PC Music and melded it with Aitchison\u2019s impeccable talent for hooks. \u201cWe have a really fast way of working. We bang out loads of ideas,\u201d she says. They released two mixtapes, Number 1 Angel and Pop 2, in 2017 and were praised as much for the songs as for the method. Aitchison had never been happier or more connected to her audience. She\u2019d never felt more secure.<\/p>\n \u201cIt takes a long time to build a solid base,\u201d she nods. \u201cEspecially when you\u2019re a control freak like I am.\u201d<\/p>\n She runs a tight ship, with people she knew before \u201cfame\u201d. \u201cI don\u2019t want people making random creative decisions for me,\u201d she says. \u201cAbsolutely not.\u201d The approach to making this third album was no different from that of the mixtapes. Yet there\u2019s something about Aitchison that feels more patient now, like she\u2019s no longer running out of time while trying to become a different kind of pop star. She admits that the reason she didn\u2019t put an album out for five years is because she didn\u2019t feel confident that people wanted one. The mixtapes reassured her. \u201cI have a really unique and important voice. I\u2019m ready to open that up, you know? And I\u2019m so much more than a pop star. With Sucker, I thought, \u2018Fuck! If I don\u2019t have another Boom Clap everything\u2019s over.\u2019 Even if I never made a song anyone liked ever again, there are so many other things I want to do now: directing videos, songwriting for other people, there\u2019s so much I feel creatively satisfied with.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the rebel in her. In conversation, she\u2019s easy to like, but she\u2019s also not trying to be liked. She doesn\u2019t want to give the people what they want. \u201cI don\u2019t love doing what people expect of me, even if it\u2019s probably the right thing,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019d rather do the other thing to annoy someone a little bit. That\u2019s been a big part of my career: how can I kind of annoy someone a bit? That sounds counterproductive, but the Sex Pistols weren\u2019t trying to sell records to parents. There\u2019s a bit of that ethos lost in pop now.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/07\/CHARLI-XCX_Los-Angeles_Jul-2019_%C2%A9-Rachael-Wright_FINAL-4_RT.jpg” title_text=”CHARLI XCX_Los Angeles_Jul 2019_\u00a9 Rachael Wright_FINAL-4_RT” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text module_class=”image-gallery-caption” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”|300|||||||” text_font_size=”16px” text_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”-10px||||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Things are looking up: \u00a0Charli XCX moves into her \u201cmature\u201d phase.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pull-quote” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_text_color=”#111111″ header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”pullquote-name” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_align=”center” header_2_font_size=”46px” header_2_line_height=”1.2em” header_3_text_align=”center” header_3_text_color=”#111111″ header_3_font_size=”38px” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#111111″ module_class=”custom-divider” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”||0px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_text module_class=”text-with-dropcap” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Parts of the process still infuriate Aitchison. She doesn\u2019t always enjoy being sold. She hates acting (\u201cactual acting\u2026 I cry, I have breakdowns\u201d). Then there\u2019s radio promo, which she insists is beyond outdated in the streaming era.<\/p>\n \u201cI fucking hate doing radio promo,\u201d she exclaims. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to go around and be like, \u2018Hey! This is Charli XCX on K104.9-three million.\u2019 NO! I don\u2019t give a fuck. The person I\u2019m talking to doesn\u2019t give a fuck. They\u2019re probably spelling my name with an \u2018e\u2019 on the end. Why are we putting time and money into this?\u201d<\/p>\n Rants are part of her appeal. She\u2019s called her label out on Twitter, and shared her best and worst states as they happen on social media. Her Instagram is a hybrid of self-confident bikini poses juxtaposed with unfiltered morning selfies and moments of existential crisis. \u201cAs I\u2019ve grown up more I\u2019ve begun to understand my emotions,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s OK to be an emotional wreck sometimes. I don\u2019t wanna sedate it or try to convince myself that I\u2019m OK if I\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n She says that she\u2019s found a happy place that\u2019s less about commercial success and more about respect. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to be an artist that other artists respect,\u201d she states. \u201cI know that I probably shouldn\u2019t care what people think. But you fucking do, you\u2019re an artist. Whether it\u2019s your peers, your friends, your fans, journalists, you care. As artists our egos get bruised, we\u2019re very volatile people even when we\u2019re at our most strong.\u201d Her biggest achievement now is that she\u2019s proud of herself. \u201cIf I died tomorrow\u2026\u201d she says, touching her wine glass. \u201cTouch wood I won\u2019t, but if I did I\u2019d be like, \u2018Cool, I did shit that will be written about. Great.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Hence the self-titled album, with its naked album art. It\u2019s a rebirth. It\u2019s almost like a debut. It\u2019s a nod to those who believe Aitchison is pop\u2019s biggest superstar. \u201cIt does have hints of this religious iconography,\u201d she smirks. \u201cI always tweet about being the saviour of pop. I know so many pop artists who have really saved pop, from Ariana [Grande] to Lorde to fucking whoever. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m the only one. But I\u2019m one of them. I\u2019m at the table. We\u2019re having the supper together.\u201d There\u2019s a clear difference between the successes of Lorde, Grande and Aitchison, but Aitchison\u2019s followers treat her indisputably as the host of that supper.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is what I do,\u201d she says plainly of her approach to pop stardom. \u201cThese are the songs I sing. This is the shit I write about. If you like it, great. If you don\u2019t, that\u2019s also OK. But, like, you don\u2019t have good taste.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t argue with the connoisseur. <\/p>\n This article originally appeared in issue 406 of Q.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”credit-names” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”14px” text_orientation=”center” global_colors_info=”{}” theme_builder_area=”post_content”]<\/p>\n Words: <\/strong>Dave Everley Images: <\/strong>Michael Clement<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sometimes I feel insecure, paranoid, totally isolated. \u2028People feel that whether they\u2019re pop stars or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1584,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mojo-presents"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"kschwarz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1695"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1700,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1695\/revisions\/1700"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/mojo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cSometimes I feel insecure, paranoid, totally isolated. \u2028People feel that whether they\u2019re pop stars or not.\u201d<\/h2>\n
Charli XCX<\/h3>\n
\u201cI came out young, made an album that literally 10 people heard,\u201d she says. Ten people? \u201cWell, a 1000 people? It wasn\u2019t a platinum-selling album.\u201d That record \u2013 True Romance \u2013 was made on her first visits to LA and released when she was 21. Thereafter Aitchison wrote Top 10 international hit I Love It, recorded by Swedish duo Icona Pop. She had two global smashes of her own: Boom Clap and Fancy, which featured rapper Iggy Azalea. \u201cThen I totally fell off,\u201d she says. \u201cIn terms of the commercial pop star I was supposed to become.\u201d She made follow-up album Sucker in a state of confusion.<\/p>\n\u201cI know so many pop artists who have really saved pop. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m the only one. But I\u2019m one of them.\u201d<\/h2>\n
Charli XCX<\/h3>\n