Listen Up - Charli XCX

I had the privilege of going to see an amazing pop show a week or so ago, and I am probably going to end up writing about all three of the artists who performed. That’s how good it was.

I’m going to start with the headliner: Charli XCX. Charli’s is a name that I have heard being bounced around the underground pop world for some time now, and when I saw she was going to be in town, I just knew I had to go see her. I didn’t know much about her when the show started, but by the end I was sold.

That’s how it should be, shouldn’t it? All it takes is the music? I think so (sometimes).

Charli XCX is one of a group of up-and-coming artists who are taking pop and destroying what many think of as ‘pop’. She calls herself a pop artist, but that isn’t it. Her music is dark – and I mean <i>dark</i>. Infused with electronic elements and dubstep bits (not too much), the sound is about as far as you can get from Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”.

The music is, in my opinion, so COOL. Yes, I mean it is innovative and stylistically and compositionally interesting, but it’s just fucking badass. Charli’s music is the sonic equivalent of that guy standing against the wall in the leather jacket smoking a cigarette. He might be an asshole, and smoking isn’t good for you, but damn does it look cool.

(note: in this scenario, the guy against the wall is misunderstood. He might be smoking, and he might look like a ruffian, but he is actually a good student, and he isn’t in a gang)

Charli XCX’s music may be dark, but it isn’t depressing. None of this emo/The Cure throwback business. Charli is a bit of a strange girl, and her music is out there, but it won’t leave you feeling sad or depressed. Rather, it conveys an attitude of ambivalence and melancholy…but in a positive way?

Ok, it’s hard to explain. Why don’t you take a listen and decide for yourself.

Here are a few of her bigger tunes (“bigger” meaning more popular – she has never charted a single anywhere).

Charli XCX is online everywhere, and I am sure you’ll be hearing about her more and more. She’s got a ton of buzz, and this might just be the time for an artist like her to shine.

PS – when I spoke with her after the show, she informed me that she was opening for Coldplay the next night. You hear that? <b>COLDPLAY</b>. If that isn’t a good gig to introduce yourself to new fans I don’t know what is.

Charli XCX <a href="http://www.facebook.com/charlixcxmusic">Facebook</a>

Charli XCX <a href="http://www.charlixcxmusic.com/">Website</a>