As the positive press rolls in for yet another Charli XCX release, I began to think about her position in the wider music landscape and where Charli might be going next. I took the liberty of extracting the Metacritic scores for some notable artists' recent releases:
I think the chart is self evident - Charli is on an upwards trajectory. Michael in particularly performs quite poorly in this comparison. It's clear from the chart that one of the few names in music today who is reviewing better than Charli is SOPHIE, but she doesn't release music anymore so we can safely set her aside. But that's all well and good - Metacritic isn't everything, and as we know, the practice of tying bonuses to Metascores is not beneficial in the longer term. So what other evidence can we look at to measure success?
Firstly, Charli's latest album, which I will remind you has reviewed better than many pop albums in the past 6 years, was created in the span of six weeks. What does that mean? As Independent puts it:
Heard of Nintendo? So has Charli XCX - before Coronamatica devastated the world and ended life as we knew it, Charli was set to be part of Super Nintendo World's launch plans, and collaborated with Galantis to create a special theme song and music video celebrating the park's launch:
Next - Charli created an entire band with a Netflix special loosely based on Sky Ferreira which was met with a critical response and an audience. Unlike the aforementioned model, Nasty Cherry went on to release an EP and were catapulted into the global ambivalence.
Charli is also responsible for spotlighting a number of LGBT+ artists, such as Kim Petras (notable for releasing the same song on a monthly cadence and working with Dr. Puke) and Dorian Electra (a very iconic and talented non-binary artist - you can read about them here!). Through her collaborations with various "whos", Charli has become something like queen of the whos - if your neighbours are blaring music with autotune that you've never heard of before or it sounds like their speakers are dying, it's probably something from the XCX world. While some artists are content to merely exploit their LGBT+ fanbase by selling mediocre pallets and jockstraps made in poverty conditions, Charli makes a consistent effort to work with LGBT+ artists and has been known to sign a fans' douche or two.
The dark - and light - sides of Charli's work with the LGBT community.
Lastly, in the past 2 days alone since release Charli has raised $57k+ for charities helping to deal with the impact of COVID-19 among homeless people from her merch sales alone, as well as participating in multiple charity streams during this quarantine. Additionally, Charli has been outspoken about the necessity for testing front line workers ahead of celebrities and rich people - while Ms Musk is letting her man embarrass himself on twitter, Charli is both educating and entertaining in a way the world has not seen since the release of Zoombinis.
That FROOT looks familiar!
So - I ask again - why aren't you listening, era?
Author's note: Unfortunately, Tchaikovsky died before the creation of Metacritic so I am unable to compare their career trajectories but I think it is safe to say that Charli is set to reach higher peaks.
I think the chart is self evident - Charli is on an upwards trajectory. Michael in particularly performs quite poorly in this comparison. It's clear from the chart that one of the few names in music today who is reviewing better than Charli is SOPHIE, but she doesn't release music anymore so we can safely set her aside. But that's all well and good - Metacritic isn't everything, and as we know, the practice of tying bonuses to Metascores is not beneficial in the longer term. So what other evidence can we look at to measure success?
Firstly, Charli's latest album, which I will remind you has reviewed better than many pop albums in the past 6 years, was created in the span of six weeks. What does that mean? As Independent puts it:
What takes some musicians years to achieve, Charli achieved in a matter of weeks. It is likely that the album will be nominated for the Grammys in 2021, not least because no-one else is able to record any albums.
Heard of Nintendo? So has Charli XCX - before Coronamatica devastated the world and ended life as we knew it, Charli was set to be part of Super Nintendo World's launch plans, and collaborated with Galantis to create a special theme song and music video celebrating the park's launch:
Next - Charli created an entire band with a Netflix special loosely based on Sky Ferreira which was met with a critical response and an audience. Unlike the aforementioned model, Nasty Cherry went on to release an EP and were catapulted into the global ambivalence.
Charli is also responsible for spotlighting a number of LGBT+ artists, such as Kim Petras (notable for releasing the same song on a monthly cadence and working with Dr. Puke) and Dorian Electra (a very iconic and talented non-binary artist - you can read about them here!). Through her collaborations with various "whos", Charli has become something like queen of the whos - if your neighbours are blaring music with autotune that you've never heard of before or it sounds like their speakers are dying, it's probably something from the XCX world. While some artists are content to merely exploit their LGBT+ fanbase by selling mediocre pallets and jockstraps made in poverty conditions, Charli makes a consistent effort to work with LGBT+ artists and has been known to sign a fans' douche or two.
The dark - and light - sides of Charli's work with the LGBT community.
Lastly, in the past 2 days alone since release Charli has raised $57k+ for charities helping to deal with the impact of COVID-19 among homeless people from her merch sales alone, as well as participating in multiple charity streams during this quarantine. Additionally, Charli has been outspoken about the necessity for testing front line workers ahead of celebrities and rich people - while Ms Musk is letting her man embarrass himself on twitter, Charli is both educating and entertaining in a way the world has not seen since the release of Zoombinis.
That FROOT looks familiar!
So - I ask again - why aren't you listening, era?
Author's note: Unfortunately, Tchaikovsky died before the creation of Metacritic so I am unable to compare their career trajectories but I think it is safe to say that Charli is set to reach higher peaks.
