Music, Fashion, Film Review: Charli XCX Leaves The Dance Floor Behind
Charli XCX says it herself on the opening track, “Rock Music,” from Music, Fashion, Film. In her follow-up album to her decade-defining album Brat, she says, “I think the dance floor is dead and so now we’re making rock music.”
This sentiment of leaving the excess to the essentials defines the record. Charli moves into a completely new era of herself: complete introspection
While Brat had plenty of moments of reflection on herself, Music, Fashion, Film. strips away the electronic chaos and replaces it with minimalism, but the main piece sits with the writing. While Brat’s lyricism was one of its best strengths, ‘Music. Fashion. Film.’ turns it into the limelight.
The Rock Of It All
When the lead single ‘Rock Music’ was released, it seemed as if we were prepped for a ‘rock rebirth’.
In the end, the album very much is rooted in the electronic influence that has defined Charli XCX’s career up to this point, but now adding more guitar.
The use of guitar on the record feels less like a novelty, but more as a way to explore more of the electronic sound that she has been accustomed to.
While the heavy guitars are present throughout the record, what stands out most is the lack of instrumentation. Instead of following Brat’s loud party, Music, Fashion, Film decides to live in the minimal.
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After The Party
After an album that was defined by her excess, Charli shows a stark contrast from it on this record.
While a lot of the songwriting still falls within Brat, it feels like this album is what happens after the party that was Brat, now, sitting with yourself, reflecting on oneself.
This is shown best on ‘SS26’, where Charli critiques how her celebrity now forces her to be a solution to a negative world—later acknowledging that her joys such as music aren’t a solution, but a comfort.
Honest writing like this was present on Brat, but hid behind the electronics. Now there’s nowhere to hide.
On Brat, the lyrics felt like a Jackson Pollock painting of spilling everything out, but accompanied by instrumentation that felt like a cover to hide behind.
Music, Fashion, Film is different in that she is spilling everything out, but there is nothing to cover her.
Leaving It All
Music, Fashion, Film is the In Utero to Brat’s Nevermind. A rougher and more personal record than Brat, Charli seems to have found the comedown from the party.
Music, Fashion, Film isn’t as great as some of Brat’s best, but it stands on its own as a dissection of Charli XCX. Charli creates an album built in the ruins of Brat.
Music, Fashion, Film lays the groundwork for the next decade of Charli XCX. The radical reinvention that defines this album shows that there is even more to come.