Music Review: Charli xcx remains one of pop’s great contrarians on ‘Music, Fashion, Film’
NEW YORK — When Charli xcx released the barely two-minute, glitched-out “Rock Music,” the first single from “Music, Fashion, Film,” she was almost immediately labeled a provocateur. Music Review: Charli xcx remains one of pop’s great contrarians on ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ The song, with its hyperpop affectations and cheeky, lyrical dedication to craft — “I think the dance floor is dead/So now we’re making rock music” — confused and confounded. Was she trolling? Was she being sincere? Was the entire record going to be made up of power chords? Was “BRAT,” her zeitgeist-shifting 2024 electro album, worthy of total rejection? No answers can be found on “Music, Fashion, Film.” It’s up for the listener to decide. What is present are 11 alternative, genre-averse songs with winking rock ’n’ roll instrumentation, preoccupied by artmaking and ego. And what is clear is that Charli xcx and her dedicated team, the co-producers and songwriters A.G. Cook and Finn Keane, have a coherent collaborative vision — just like a band might. Conceptually, the candor of “BRAT,” at the top …








