Pulp Ranked: Charli XCX's Albums
By Lawson Wrigley
As we come to the end of the 2010s, we can’t help but reminisce on the artists that shaped pop music in the last decade. No reminiscence would be complete without the one-and-only, Charli XCX. Switching up her sound and release structure every era, Charli XCX’s discography is diverse, interesting and captivating. So, without further ado, here are all of Charli XCX’s albums and EPs ranked from worst to best.
7. SUCKER
2014’s punky Sucker showed Charli trying to deal with mainstream success the break out success of her Fancy collab with our very own Iggy Azalea and The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack single, ‘Boom Clap’. Followed by the minor success of ‘Break the Rules’ which is arguably one of Charli’s worst songs (even Charli agrees) apart from the iconic collaboration ‘Doing It (feat. Rita Ora)’ this album introduced Charli to a lot of new fans but not for excellent reasons. A blip in Charli’s career, it led to more exciting directions.
6. TRUE ROMANCE
To be a True Romance Angel (angels are what Charli’s fans are called, DUH) is the hardest. Not because True Romance isn’t a modern classic, but because it isn’t the futuristic pop that Charli will be remembered for. It’s a nice enough debut with amazing songs like ‘Nuclear Seasons’, ‘You’re The One’, ‘Grins’ and ‘You (Ha Ha Ha)’. Although let’s be real, if made in 2019, stand out ‘You (Ha Ha Ha)’ would be renamed ‘You (skjskjskjsjksk)’. It just would be, don’t @ me. This moody synth-pop album was fresh and introduced us into the world of Charli XCX the perfect leaping point for further exploration; I’m glad Charli has grown to make more exciting music.
5. NUMBER ONE ANGEL
The first mixtape saw Charli continue with her affiliation with PC Music members A.G. Cook and Sophie. The ten-track LP saw Charli continue to explore new pop sounds and welcome a world of exciting underground guests. It spawned fan favourites, like ‘Lipgloss ft. Cupcakke’, ‘Dreamer ft Starrah and Raye’ and ‘Babygirl ft Uffie’. Although an exciting addition these features had the tendency to outshine Charli on her own tracks. That being said, solo tracks like ‘Roll With Me’ and ‘Emotional’ showed Charli at her best.
4. VROOM VROOM - EP
The turning point in Charli’s career came with the 4-track extended play that saw her unite with the elusive electronic producer, SOPHIE. It introduced us to her career-defining hit ‘Vroom Vroom’ which will forever be apart of Charli’s legacy. The EP also saw her dive more into the PC music world with collaborations with Hannah Diamond and A.G. Cook. The revolutionary production re-invented the idea of pop music and saw Sophie’s liquid metal and hypersonic inspire a new direction for Charli.
3. XCX WORLD
The canned third album, loosely titled ‘XCX World’, will always be a super fan’s favourite. Even though Charli has since gone onto release more iconic tunes, the allure of an artist’s unreleased work creates a special shine to these rumoured tracks. Fortunately, for those without the leaked songs (respect Charli and don’t go searching!) she did drop three fan favourites from that era; ‘Focus’, ‘Girl’s Night Out’ and ‘No Angel’. Sonically, very different these tracks combine to create a sugary hyper-pop playground that will always have us wondering ‘What If…’. Alas, no XCX World seems on the horizon and honestly it paved the way for some of her best work yet.
2. CHARLI
The third official album, Charli, almost felt like a sequel to POP2. It was as if Charli was trying to outdo herself often at her own demise. There were a plethora of collaborations, seeing Charli cater to all aspects of her pop persona with much success. This included more radio-friendly tracks, ‘1999’ and ‘Blame it on Your Love’. The latter ironically enough an un-remixed version of POP2 stand-out, ‘Track 10’. Some of the best cuts on ‘Charli’ are when the popstar muses alone such as ‘White Mercedes’, ‘Official’ and ‘Silver Cross’. But the centerpiece here is the thumping ‘Gone’ with Christine and the Queens. An exciting new evolution but not the revolution of POP2.
1. POP 2
POP2 is Charli’s best; with collaborations galore, the second mixtape is all killer no filler. It’s an electric, hyperreal future where Charli finally felt like she had reached her destination. It saw Charli dive into a hypersonic future and bring back the most exciting parts, from ‘Femmebot’ to ‘Delicious’, POP2 is her most cohesive and adored work. With a mix of more poppy standouts ‘Out of my Head’ and ‘Porche’, to fan favourites ‘Unlock It’ and ‘I Got It’. There’s a reason the latter two have been added to the Charli tour playlist. This mixtape solidified Charli as the most boundary-pushing popstar, and it’s the mixtape that so many angels will love forever.