{"id":2515173,"date":"2026-07-24T05:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T05:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2515173"},"modified":"2026-07-24T05:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T05:47:20","slug":"charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-review-there-are-moments-of-excellence-in-this-perplexing-frustrating-brat-follow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-review-there-are-moments-of-excellence-in-this-perplexing-frustrating-brat-follow-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Charli XCX, Music Fashion Film review \u2013 There are moments of excellence in this perplexing, frustrating Brat follow-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"main\">\n<div class=\"hydrate-root sc-1ihz57b-0\" data-component=\"Newsletter\" data-loading=\"lazy\" data-theme-name=\"independent\">\n<div data-theme-wrapper=\"independent\" style=\"display:contents\">\n<aside class=\"sc-y4bm30-0 jwWhkK newsletter-component sc-1ge0fwe-0\" data-newsletter-key=\"receiveNowHearThis\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-1 inRDZn\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-3\">\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-4 hfveGa\">\n<p><h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-6 fvoxRM cLEJmn\">Get the inside track from Roisin O&#8217;Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-8 fvoxRM iTZFOX\">Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This<\/h3>\n<h3 class=\"sc-y4bm30-5 sc-y4bm30-7 fvoxRM iGYpOF\">Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><svg class=\"sc-eaj12q-0 loKJGs sc-culv3z-0 eifaJK sc-1ix0cah-0 PYnPb sc-y4bm30-10 fUEDPX\" viewbox=\"0 0 32 32\"><use href=\"#600f53465147d717\"\/><\/svg><\/div>\n<div class=\"sc-y4bm30-2 kcLSBk sc-y4bm30-9 iQYNfz\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/newsletters\/nowHearThis1_2.png\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Roisin O\u2019Connor\u2019s\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/features\/charli-xcx-how-im-feeling-now-album-pc-music-claws-sucker-lyrics-tour-a9510091.html\">Charli XCX<\/a> is in a quandary. Or at least, that\u2019s how it seems on her seventh album,<em> Music Fashion Film<\/em>. It\u2019s been a strange, disjointed rollout for the pop star\u2019s latest full-length release \u2013 her third in just over two years, if we\u2019re including <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/reviews\/charli-xcx-review-wuthering-heights-film-soundtrack-b2919811.html\">her <em>Wuthering Heights <\/em>soundtrack<em> <\/em><\/a>\u2013 not least because of the mixed messages about what the project is. The sound and themes, too, are confusing and often contradictory. <\/p>\n<p>This makes sense if you know how <em>Music Fashion Film<\/em> came about. The artist born Charlotte Aitchinson felt creatively drained from the era-defining sensation that was <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/reviews\/charli-xcx-brat-review-b2557120.html\">2024\u2019s <em>Brat<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>\u2013 a work that sparked endless memes, merch, TikTok dances and smoking habits. After that, she was \u201cnot inspired to write anything new\u201d. Then her longtime collaborator AG Cook suggested they record while in Paris for fashion week; the idea of working in such a contained, hectic environment appealed. <em>Music Fashion Film<\/em> evolved into a celebration of her three favourite mediums, hence the cover art featuring a trio of heavyweights: Martin Scorsese, Marc Jacobs, John Cale. \u201cThis album is, in a way, all about how lucky I feel to be able to do what I do,\u201d she told fans in New York City earlier this month. <\/p>\n<p>The first interview Charli did for this record was a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vogue.co.uk\/article\/charli-xcx-british-vogue-interview\"><em>Vogue<\/em> <\/a>cover, moodily shot in black and white. The strapline: \u201cCharli XCX\u2026 on her rock reinvention.\u201d The accompanying article stated that \u201cshe really is making rock music\u201d, with Charli remarking: \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting for me is to bend the possibilities of what my perspective on that could be.\u201d Fans were understandably confused, then, when she unveiled the first single, \u201cRock Music\u201d, very much <em>not <\/em>a rock song, instead a pop track buoyed by a bouncy distorted guitar riff and<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/news\/charli-xcx-new-album-release-date-vogue-cover-b2959100.html\"> the tongue-in-cheek refrain<\/a>: \u201cI think the dancefloor is dead\/ So now we\u2019re making rooooooock music.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Amid the heated conversation over the song, Charli posted a video of herself stating <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/news\/charli-xcx-rock-music-rolling-stone-album-b2999038.html\">she \u201cnever said I was making a rock album\u201d<\/a>. So, things get even more perplexing while listening to the album in full (all 30 minutes of it; most songs clock in at the two-minute mark) because actually, quite a lot of it <em>does <\/em>seem rock-inspired. \u201cCard Declined\u201d is stomping, dark and sulky, Seattle grunge style, with Charli intoning a shopping list in a manner that seems to knowingly poke fun at her own capitalist inclinations. \u201cI\u2019m Afraid\u201d is even bleaker, like Kurt Cobain\u2019s \u201cSomething in the Way\u201d, insomnia in song form, as she wrestles with different identities and the notion that pain leads to better art. The production throughout is excellent \u2013 it envelops you, full of interesting textures and instrumentation, while Charli\u2019s voice flits from her vocodered drawl to a sweet, pitched-up trill.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-awdjp1-2 cbpRGD sc-awdjp1-3 image align-center\">\n<figure class=\"sc-1cbdeug-0 cXcwgU\">\n<div data-gallery-length=\"2\" class=\"sc-awdjp1-0 bPZdnb\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2026\/07\/23\/15\/36\/Charli-xcx-SS26-[Credit-Henry-Redcliffe].jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2026\/07\/23\/15\/36\/Charli-xcx-SS26-[Credit-Henry-Redcliffe].jpg?quality=75&amp;width=320&amp;auto=webp 320w, https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/2026\/07\/23\/15\/36\/Charli-xcx-SS26-[Credit-Henry-Redcliffe].jpg?quality=75&amp;width=640&amp;auto=webp 640w\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Charli XCX in her music video for 'SS26'\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"sc-1cbdeug-1 sc-1cbdeug-3 YlsWU hgzWpY\">Charli XCX in her music video for &#8216;SS26&#8217;<span class=\"sc-1cbdeug-7 gjqsiM\"> <!-- -->(<!-- -->Henry Redcliffe<!-- -->)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The music video for \u201cCamera\u201d, starring French actor Vincent Cassel, was influenced in part by a shot of an exhausted James Dean having his makeup touched up on the set of his final film, <em>Giant<\/em> \u2013 he died weeks after wrapping his scenes. The image connected with Charli, who thought about her own relationship with making art: \u201cEven though it can feel hard and sometimes humiliating, there\u2019s a burning passion to get to this place where you feel something powerful and indescribable,\u201d Charli posted to Instagram. The thing is, when you see the finished film, Dean is in character. On <em>Music Fashion Film<\/em>, there are more than a few instances where you feel like you\u2019re witnessing the creative process in action \u2013 you\u2019re <em>inside it,<\/em> rather than enjoying the final, polished version. <\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbEC1k1xIWF\/embed\/captioned\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"sc-wn0aau-1 dZPXBi\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In a<em> <\/em><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.co.uk\/music\/features\/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-cover-feature-interview-62215\/\"><em>Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a><em> <\/em>interview, Charli spoke of her belief that earnest and funny can exist in the same space. And truly, few do this better than her \u2013 just listen to \u201cGirl, So Confusing\u201d and then \u201cVon Dutch\u201d on <em>Brat<\/em> \u2013 but I wonder if the lines have blurred beyond her control. It\u2019s frustrating to have a good song like \u201cCamera\u201d, which reminds me of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs\u2019 circa <em>Fever to Tell<\/em> (2003) and addresses<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/films\/features\/the-moment-charli-xcx-review-b2924321.html\"> her indecision over pursuing a film career in her early thirties<\/a>, followed by something like \u201c2007\u201d, a reheated take of her nostalgia fest with Troye Sivan, \u201c1999\u201d. \u201cI can take you to heaven like it\u2019s 2007,\u201d she purrs coyly. We\u2019re back to serious matters on closing track \u201cNo One Lasts Forever\u201d, inspired by David Cronenberg\u2019s account of a near-death experience and featuring a looping, spoken-word segment from the director himself. <\/p>\n<p>Quite a lot of the songwriting feels like a hangover from <em>Brat<\/em>, often riffing along the lines of, \u201cYou doing this makes me feel like <em>that, <\/em>am I insecure, I hate this, I wanna do something, what does it all mean anyway?\u201d It belies the confident album title and its lofty cover stars. Similarly, \u201cSS26\u201d is the prettiest song on the record but flails around with questions of futility in our messed-up world, and how the world of fashion seems vapid within that context; a strange message, on an album promising to celebrate the form. \u201cWink Wink\u201d addresses her famous self-awareness but undermines it, too: \u201cYou don\u2019t get me\u2026 I don\u2019t know why you don\u2019t believe me.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>So often, <em>Music Fashion Film <\/em>comes off like Charli is trying to work out where her place is in all of it. Is she trying to align herself with these auteurs, or confessing her insecurity that she might not belong there? Is she mocking the self-seriousness of herself and her peers or paying tribute to art\u2019s transformative powers? She\u2019d probably want you to believe all of the above. But the overarching sense on this album is of the kind of gin-infused, late-night philosophical ramblings sent drifting out of a Paris apartment window, along with grey wisps of cigarette smoke. At the time you feel like you\u2019re really on to something. But in the cold light of day, most of the ideas are rather half-baked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.independent.co.uk \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Get the inside track from Roisin O&#8217;Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Charli XCX is in a quandary. Or at least, that\u2019s how it seems on her seventh album, Music Fashion Film. It\u2019s been a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2515176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2515173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Charli-XCX-Music-Fashion-Film-review-\u2013-There-are-moments-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2515173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2515177,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2515173\/revisions\/2515177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2515176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2515173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2515173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2515173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}