Charli XCX Is Probably Not the Future of Pop, and That’s Okay
The songwriter’s cybernetic new album, <em>Charli</em>, is a complement to the mainstream, not an invasion of it.
One of the great things about living in the future is that you can watch the now as it was supposed to be catch up to the now as it is. Charli XCX has been tagged as a pop star of tomorrow since 2012, when early singles by the Brit born Charlotte Emma Aitchison made music bloggers—still a force back then—swoon. The press has continued to portray her as a next-big-thing as she’s moved from black-lipstick operatics to Blondie-ish pep rallies to anchoring Iggy Azalea’s No. 1 hit “Fancy” to her current phase: catchy noise art.
Presumably if
