Charli XCX

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Charli XCX

Charli performing live at Positivus Festival 2013.
Background information
Birth name Charlotte Emma Aitchison
Born (1992-08-02) August 2, 1992
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, U.K
Genres Synthpop, indietronica, darkwave, witch house, new wave
Occupations Singer, songwriter
Years active 2008–present
Labels Orgy Music, This Is Music, Asylum, Atlantic, IAMSOUND
Website www.charlixcxmusic.com

Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), better known by her stage name Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. She released two singles in 2008, "!Franchesckaar!" (from her commercially unreleased debut album, 14) and "Emelline"/"Art Bitch". She was signed to This Is Music and IAMSOUND Records in 2010 before releasing three more singles, "Stay Away", "Nuclear Seasons" and "You're the One" from her debut EP You're the One, which was released in June 2012. After a year-long delay period, she released her debut major label studio album, True Romance, in April 2013.[1] Currently, she is expecting to release her third studio album in June 2014.[2]

Early life

Charlotte Emma Aitchison[3][4] was born on 2 August 1992[5][6] in Hertfordshire. She started writing songs when she was fourteen.[4][7] She attended Bishop's Stortford College and left the school in 2010.[8]

Career

2008–10: 14 and career beginnings

At the age of 14 in 2007, Charli began recording her debut album on a loan granted by her parents. In early 2008, she began posting songs from the album, as well as numerous other demos, on her official MySpace. This caught the attention of "this guy Chaz", who was running numerous illegal warehouse raves in London, which became her first true gigs.[9] Two singles, "!Franchesckaar!" and double A-side "Emelline"/"Art Bitch", were released in late 2008 under Orgy Music. Charli's debut studio album, 14, featuring the former single, was never commercially released, although several promotional copies were issued, and copies were given away at Charli's earliest gigs.[10] After being signed to Asylum Records in 2010, Charli took a break from music in what she describes as a "lost" period.[11]

2011–13: You're the One, breakthrough, and True Romance

In 2011, she featured on two singles, "End of the World" by Alex Metric, and "Lost in Space" by Starkey. In May 2011, she released her first single in nearly three years, "Stay Away", followed by "Nuclear Seasons" in November, both produced by Ariel Rechtshaid and released exclusively in the UK. These singles gained attention from Pitchfork Media, where she gained Best New Track accolades for both tracks, with the former being ranked #35 on their Best Tracks of 2011 list.[12] In late 2011, a five-track promotional sampler of Charli's debut album surfaced. All tracks were early demos, including an early version of "You're the One", titled "In the Dark".[13]

In February 2012, Charli released two free tracks, the holiday-themed "Valentine" and "I'll Never Know" through her website. Charli XCX wrote and provided two tracks including "How Can I?" for the indie horror film Elfie Hopkins, starring Ray Winstone and his daughter Jaime Winstone. She also released two free mixtapes via SoundCloud, containing tracks by her female and male influences, the first titled Super Girls, Super Love and the second titled I Like Boys Who Cry.[14] On 12 May 2012, she released her first original mixtape, titled Heartbreaks and Earthquakes, a one-track file consisting of eight songs, including "How Can I?".[15] She supported Santigold and Coldplay on tour throughout summer.[16]

On 12 June 2012, Charli released her debut EP You're the One in the US, featuring "You're the One" and "Nuclear Seasons", as well as remixes of both tracks. On 14 June, "You're the One" was released as her debut single in Australia. The EP was later released in September in the UK and Australia, the UK version featuring the title track and "So Far Away", as well as three remixes. The Australian version contained the title track, "Stay Away", and "Nuclear Seasons". The Australian edition was also the only version of the EP to be released physically on CD.[13] Her second original mixtape, Super Ultra was released exclusively through her website on 7 November 2012, featuring 8 separate tracks.[17] She wrote Icona Pop's song "I Love It", which became a breakthrough hit for the Swedish duo reaching the top 10 in numerous countries and serving as the theme song for Snooki & JWoww. She is credited as a featured artist on the song, even though she did not actually perform it or appear in the music video.[18] Charli's second studio album, and debut major label studio album, True Romance was released on 12 April 2013, and peaked at #85 on the UK Albums Chart.[19] The album failed to appear on any international main albums charts, but it did reach #5 on the US Billboard Top Heatseekers, and #11 on the Australian Hitseekers Albums Chart, reaching the equivalent peak of #206 and #111 respectively.[20] The album was well-received by music critics, with an average score of 76/100 on Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[21]

She toured with Ellie Goulding as an opening act on a Europe tour of Germany, Poland, Italy, Switzerland and Dublin throughout April 2013, and then toured America and Canada with Marina Diamandis throughout May 2013, followed by her own untitled UK tour in support of True Romance. In March 2013, Charli XCX was named one of Fuse TV's 30 must-see artists at SXSW.[22] On 1 May 2013, Marina and Charli published a duet titled "Just Desserts" on their Youtube pages. The song was posted as a free download on both of their Soundcloud pages.[23]

2013–14: Third studio album

In June 2013, Charli confirmed she was working on her second (or technically, third) album.[24] Also in June, "Illusions Of", a track by J£ZUS MILLION featuring Charli XCX, was released as a single from Double Denim Vol. 1, a compilation of artists signed to Double Denim Records.[25] In September 2013, Charli supported American rock band Paramore on their UK leg of their self-titled tour, spanning 2 dates at Wembley Arena. On 26 September 2013, she uploaded the music video for the lead single from her third studio album, "SuperLove", which was later released commercially on 8 December 2013.[26] On January 16th 2014, Charli released a cover of a Snuffed By The Yakuza song titled "Allergic To Love" via her Soundcloud. [27]

Style

Charli XCX's music has been compared to the 80's music with "the spookiness of Siouxsie Sioux" or "flawless early-Madonna".[28]

Discography

Main article: Charli XCX discography

References

  1. ↑ Charli XCX - Album Sampler (images)
  2. ↑ Charli XCX’s next album will hopefully be out in June - Popjustice.com
  3. ↑ "Songwriter/Composer: AITCHISON CHARLOTTE EMMA". Broadcast Music, Inc. Retrieved 17 August 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Needham, Alex (27 July 2009). "Brit Pop Girls". Interview. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Twitter / charli_xcx: Who's coming to my XOYO show". Twitter. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  6. ↑ "Twitter / charli_xcx: @Coincidental AUGUST 1992 BABY!". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  7. ↑ "Charli XCX interview (part 1)". FaceCulture. Retrieved 2013-06-27. 
  8. ↑ A post from 2 July 2013 on the Old Stortfordian Society's Facebook page
  9. ↑ Interview with Charli XCX
  10. ↑ "Interview: Charli XCX Talks Debut Album, Internet Haters, and Writing Icona Pop's "I Love It"". Complex. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  11. ↑ Charli XCX - Guardian Interview
  12. ↑ Pitchfork - The Best Songs of 2011
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Charli XCX at Discogs
  14. ↑ Idol Mag - Charli XCX interview
  15. ↑ "Announcing Charli XCX’s EP & Tour Dates". Iamsoundrecords.com. 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  16. ↑ "Rita Ora On Coldplay Support Slots: "It's Such A Huge Opportunity" - Audio". Capital FM. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012. 
  17. ↑ Charli XCX - Super Ultra
  18. ↑ Adickman, Erika Brooks. "Charli XCX's "You (Ha Ha Ha)": At Your Request". Idolator. Retrieved 7 March 2013. 
  19. ↑ "Official UK Albums Top 100". Official Charts Company. 27 April 2013. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 27 April 2013. 
  20. ↑ "Heatseekers Albums : May 04, 2013 | Billboard Chart Archive". Billboard.com. 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2013-05-21. 
  21. ↑ "True Romance – Charli XCX". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 21 April 2013. 
  22. ↑ "30 Must-See Acts at SXSW 2013 - Photos - South by Southwest - Festivals - Fuse". Fuse.tv. 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  23. ↑ "Marina And The Diamonds + Charli Xcx | ♡ "Just Desserts" ♡". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-05-21. 
  24. ↑ Charli XCX Already Writing Music for Second Album
  25. ↑ Double Denim Vol. 1
  26. ↑ Charli XCX - SuperLove - GB iTunes Store.
  27. ↑ Charli XCX - Allergic to Love (Snuffed By The Yakuza Cover) - Soundcloud.
  28. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (11 March 2012), Untamed and Unabashed, Rolling Stone, retrieved 3 February 2014 

External links

Charli XCX
Studio albums
Extended plays
Original mixtapes
Singles
Featured singles
  • "Lost in Space"
  • "End of the World"
  • "I Love It"
  • "Illusions Of"
Related articles
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