John Cale

Week 31: Charli XCX- Music, Fashion, Film

~ honestopinions19 ~ Leave a comment

“Music, Fashion, Film” took me by surprise. I was expecting the usual electronic-influenced sound from Charli XCX, but she tried a bold rock sound. It was very refreshing, despite the album being a bit hit-and-miss.

My recurring issue with her songs is the heavy use of auto-tune. Tracks like ‘2007’, ‘Wink Wink’, and ‘Persona’ are spoiled by it. They all had potential, too. As ‘Magic Metal Montana’. The drum intro reminded me of Blur’s ‘Song 2’, but then the pathetic auto-tune saturates it.

The highlight was ‘SS26 ’, a politically-charged track that captured the album’s energy and confidence. The others were ‘Camera’, ‘I’m Afraid’, ‘Yeah’, and Card Declined’. I’m pretty sure on the latter I heard a hidden track at 2:44.

The closer, ‘No One Lasts Forever’, is something that Phoenix might do, albeit not the melancholic, repeated spoken-word verse on the outro.

Another thing to admire is the artwork. It depicts 3 representatives from the record’s title: John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese. Despite the unnecessary use of auto-tune, I liked seeing Charli try something different and try out an in-your-face rock album.

Song recommendations: ‘SS26’, ‘No One Lasts Forever’, ‘Card Declined’

7/10

Week 8: Charli XCX- Wuthering Heights Official Soundtrack

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I enjoyed the production of “Wuthering Heights”. It is lush and crafted with utter precision, but the listening experience is marred by Charli’s heavy reliance on auto-tune. The instrumentals shimmer with detail and atmosphere, but the vocals don’t enhance the listening experience; they quite simply flatten it.

I was delighted to see that John Cale was a featured artist on the album, with his presence on ‘House’, where he delivers in spoken-word form, but unfortunately, the track falls foul of her synthetic, glazed vocal coating. What could have been both gothic and haunting is overshadowed by overpolishing and distance.  The production of the record had depth and promise, but it is frustratingly pushed out by the vocal effects.

No rating