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On April 6, Charli XCX announced her design to try an experiment. Over the course of the next five weeks, she’d invent a establish-unique album — along side meeting the demands of song videos and promotion — all fully from scratch while self-environment aside. The discontinue consequence of that interval of creativity is lastly right here: As promised, it be known as How I’m Feeling Now, and it be merely a vision.
The album comes loaded with the singles “Claws,” “With out end,” and “I Indirectly Worth,” all trademark future-pop appears to be at her lifestyles in quarantine that moreover noticed her embracing extra stream-of-consciousness lyrics she shared with followers in dependable time as she became making them. The opposite eight songs right here fluctuate from insanely catchy (“7 Years”) and sugary (“Detonate”) to Aphex Twin-reminiscent (“C2.0”) and intimate and sprawling (“Occasion 4 U”). All of it comes together thanks to production relief from of depended on collaborators A.G. Cook dinner and BJ Burton.
What we realized within the lead-up to the originate — which moreover noticed Charli shoot DIY and as soon as in some time green camouflage-assisted visuals for “With out end” and “Claws” — became, merely, how Charli works. In a “quarantine diary” speak shared earlier than the album announcement, she talked about how she’s primitive to working immediate and how she gathered felt “desirous to invent and collaborate” no matter the pandemic.
Final 365 days, Charli released an eponymous album loaded with guest collaborations from Lizzo, Haim, Troye Sivan, and extra. She performed the foundation of that one in about a month, too, so the genesis of How I’m Feeling Now, while gathered a venture, realized Charli true in her very finest artistic zone.
“I blueprint shut to herald as many artists all the procedure throughout the enviornment from assorted places and cultures because I have adore that’s what basically drives me to be taught from them and to invent definite that they’ve a tell in my legend,” she told MTV Recordsdata on the time. On the unique album, that translates to guest production work from 100 gecs’s Dylan Brady, Dijon Duenas, Palmistry, and extra.
Sonically, it be glitchy and pitch-shifted and swirling within and out of exiguous embellishments that rattle an otherwise gentle pop foundation. It be an addictive hear, and at 37 minutes prolonged, How I’m Feeling Now is a mammoth design to dive true into, correctly, how song sounds now — and how it could perchance per chance well per chance sound within the shut to future.
Receive started by streaming the album in plump above. Charli’s moreover documented the total course of on her social channels, along side in-depth week-by-week summaries on YouTube. See those afterwards to survey a grasp at work.