Charli xcx: Rock Music review is she really pivoting from pop? Don't be so sure

"If I'd made another album that felt more dance-leaning, it would have felt really hard, really sad, she said, not unreasonably declining to chase Brat's vast success by attempting to replicate it. (Although, in fairness, you could have probably worked that out from House, the noisy, experimental collaboration with John Cale she released at the end of last year as the first single from her soundtrack to Wuthering Heights.)"

"She also played the interviewer a track that contained both heavily processed guitars and the lyrics I think the dancefloor is dead, so now we're making rock music: Vogue duly ran with the idea, trumpeting Charli xcx's rock reinvention in both the headline and on its cover and other news outlets picked up on the story CHARLI XCX CONFIRMS ROCK ALBUM."

"What one journalist tactfully called heated discourse online from some fans and artists within the music industry followed, eventually prompting the singer to respond, posting a video of me making a song called Rock Music that is not actually rock music which is funny because I never said I was making a rock album. The fact an artist can cause controversy by saying her new album is going to sound different to her last album says something depressing about the era in which we live, dominated by streaming services and their algorithms designed to serve listeners more and more and more of the same."

Charli xcx launched a media campaign for her seventh studio album with an interview in which she suggested the follow-up to Brat would feel markedly different. She said a more dance-leaning album would have felt hard and sad, and she referenced her recent experimental collaboration with John Cale as an indicator of her direction. She also shared a track featuring heavily processed guitars and lyrics about the dancefloor being dead and making rock music. Vogue and other outlets framed her comments as a confirmation of a rock album, leading to heated online reactions. She later responded with a video clarifying that she was making a song called Rock Music and that she never claimed to be making a rock album. The controversy raised concerns about an era shaped by streaming algorithms that encourage repetitive listening.

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