Album Review: Charli XCX, Music, Fashion, Film

Following the hedonistic highs of Brat, Charli xcx pivots inward on Music, Fashion, Film. Across a lean 30 minutes, the songs feel like diary entries, laced with biting humour and self-awareness as she dissects the culture she helped define.

On ‘SS26’, Charli wrestles with the tension between commercial success and artistic integrity. Weary of shallow industry chatter, celebrity worship and the endless cycle of Notes app apologies, she skewers a world where public image can often outweigh genuine accountability. It's one of the album's sharpest moments, revealing her increased disillusion with the spotlight.

‘Card Declined’ provides a compelling sonic shift. Distorted guitars and grunge-pop vocals eventually give way to an unexpectedly euphoric finale, turning anxiety and self-doubt into something strangely triumphant. Throughout, Charli's lyricism remains candid and unfiltered, balancing vulnerability with razor-sharp satire.

While ‘Yeah’ never quite leaves a lasting impression, it's immediately redeemed by ‘Wink Wink’, a standout bursting with outrageous one-liners and wickedly self-aware humour. Charli gleefully dismantles the "bad girl" persona she's cultivated, proving she's still in complete control of the narrative.

The closing track, ‘No One Lasts Forever’, is the album's emotional centrepiece. A spoken-word appearance from filmmaker David Cronenberg transforms the song into a haunting meditation on art, grief and mortality, with the repeated refrain, "They are dead, they are gone / No one lasts forever," lingering long after the music fades. If this marks the end of Charli's 365 party-girl era, it's also the beginning of a compelling reinvention.

8/10