Today: Mar 18, 2024

The new Charli XCX single leaves high hopes for the album

Jackson Volenec – Reporter

Charli XCX has recently released a new single “Claws” off her new album made entirely while self-isolating in quarantine, showcases her fully embracing her creative identity through both the music and a wild music video.

Last year, popstar Charli XCX’s career saw a complete reboot with her self-titled album “Charli”, a record that showed a complete overhaul of her sound and her style. The album featured great collaborators, such as Troye Sivan, Clairo, Lizzo and others. Singles such as “1999” and “Click” proved to the world that Charli has many talents, as she was able to cover a wide range of moods and sonic pallets while still making the whole discography sound cohesive and very much her own.

Now, with a new quarantine album on the way titled “how I’m feeling now,” Charli has emphasized her collaborative nature. The song’s beat was produced by Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs, who is known for his adrenaline pumping electronic, abrasive and techno-flavored instrumentals on top of high-pitched autotune vocals. While this song might not be as aggressive as a 100 Gecs track, the beat is punchy and high energy, moving through several transitions in only two and a half minutes of runtime.

Charli’s vocals have a consistent layer of autotune underneath them, which couples with the beat very well. The delivery of her vocals are an in-between of rapping and singing, something Charli did a lot on her album last year. When listening to the track, it feels like you’re at a crazy rave that is entirely run by AI.

The hook, “I like, I like, I like everything about you,” instantly becomes trapped inside your head, as it is extremely catchy and fun. This infectious line is repeated all throughout the song, with great verses mixed in between each hook that feature different vocal inflections and flows.

This is a song you can listen to over and over and not get sick of, as it has several different phases that do a great job of hiding its short runtime. In the second half of the track, Brady’s production builds up more noise and abrasion; it almost feels like the song is about to explode right in front of your face.

The only aspect of the song I’m not in love with is Charli’s lyrics. I don’t think that they’re terrible, but I think they get slightly repetitive, which might be the goal entirely. In my opinion, however, Charli has done a better job of creating super catchy lyrics that don’t feel repetitive at all. This point is easy to ignore if you’re just focusing on the beat and her flow, though, as I don’t think the lyrics were the main focus.

This song was also coupled with an amazing music video directed by Charlotte Rutherford that was filmed entirely in Charli’s house with a greenscreen and a few props. The zany visual effects that are rampantly cycling is a great backdrop to the supercharged music.

Overall, I think “Claws” is a fantastic song from Charli, as it pushes her signature sound found on her last album to an even more exciting form. Her new album ‘how I’m feeling now” will come out later this month, and I have high hopes for it

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