Charli XCX released Music, Fashion, Film today, a fashionably short follow-up to her soundtrack for Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights and the cultural hit BRAT. Pitchfork notes Charli labels the album “about process” and that she and co-producers A.G. Cook and Finn Keane pivot from BRAT’s club pop and wounded electronics toward a guitar-forward, rock-tinged sound. The record keeps a first-draft, quasi-vérité feeling and leans into self-aware, jokey lyrics, Pitchfork quotes a line from “Wink Wink,” “Maybe I fucked your dad/Just kidding I’m only saying that for effect.” Songs singled out include “Magic Metal Montana,” dedicated to Cook, the two-minute, time-warping “Yeah,” the hook-strewn “2007,” and the Pixies-tinged “I’m Afraid.” Reviewers describe dense, clip-ready production choices such as doubled vocal harmonies and sharp dynamic contrasts, and say themes shift from career insecurity to creativity and gratitude. Pitchfork concludes the risks of an under-prepared follow-up are softened by Charli’s experienced pop mixtape instincts and a clear self-aware aesthetic.
