Charli XCX’s *Music, Fashion, Film*: A Deep-Dive into the Album’s Themes and Reception

*Music, Fashion, Film* is Charli XCX’s 2024 follow-up to the breakthrough album *BRAT*. The record opens with “No One Lasts Forever,” featuring filmmaker David Cronenberg, and proceeds through tracks such as “Rock Music,” “SS26,” “Wink Wink,” “Persona,” “Camera,” and “2007.” Production is credited to a trio—Charli, A.G. Cook, and Finn Keane—who also appear on several songs. The album blends synth-heavy club beats, distorted guitars, and sparse, auto-tuned vocals, creating a deliberately “dead-ened” soundscape.

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Charli first gained mainstream notice after partnering with the PC Music collective in the mid-2010s. Her 2022 album *CRASH* attempted an A-list breakthrough, while *BRAT* (2024) cemented her reputation for “chant-along choruses” and hyper-pop aesthetics. *Music, Fashion, Film* follows that trajectory, positioning itself as a self-referential exploration of the persona that emerged from *BRAT* and the subsequent “mockumentary” *The Moment* (2026).

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The album’s core production team consists of Charli, A.G. Cook, and Finn Keane. Additional contributors include longtime songwriter Noonie Bao and the Swedish melodic-math collective Lotus IV, whose absence is noted by reviewers as a gap in the record’s texture. A.G. Cook’s parallel work on DIIV’s upcoming album is cited as evidence of his expanding influence beyond Charli’s projects.

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Lyrically, the record oscillates between self-examination and meta-commentary. Charli’s Substack post frames the album as an attempt to confront “deep-rooted insecurity…of being boring.” The track “Persona” references an Ingmar Bergman film and asks whether the “Other” is an abstract figure, a past BRAT persona, or a new identity.

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Reviews from *Xtramagazine* describe the album as “aimless” when centered on spoken-word interludes, noting that the “sludgy mix of impenetrable synths” buries humor. The same outlet praises the “monster chorus” of “Persona” and the “euphoric” build of “Camera,” but criticizes the one-note nature of “Wink Wink.” *OurCultureMag* highlights the “elegantly mournful mood” of “SS26” and the “dry, detuned coolness” reminiscent of late-career Kim Gordon, while also pointing out that “Card Declined” feels “too plodding” for a single.

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• “My penchant for ‘coolness’ probably points to my deep-rooted insecurity (or perhaps I’d even go as far as calling it a fear) of being boring,” — Next Level Charli

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The track “Girl, So Confusing” remix, which pays tribute to a trans woman who influenced Charli, is cited as evidence of the artist’s engagement with contemporary gender-politics.

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*Music, Fashion, Film* thus stands as a polarizing entry in Charli XCX’s discography: a project that deliberately blurs genre boundaries, foregrounds personal insecurity, and invites both admiration for its experimental ambition and criticism for its perceived lack of cohesion.

Album Review: Charli XCX, ‘Music, Fashion, Film’