Yet another delay before releasing her third studio album, Charli XCX released mixtape “Number 1 Angel” March 10, which followed up her “Vroom Vroom” EP and recent single, “After the Afterparty.”
STARS: 4.5/5
“Number 1 Angel” exemplifies what Charli does best: revolutionizing pop music while keeping it dancefloor worthy.
“Angel” aptly mixes sounds from previous work, blending the heavy, dark pop of “Vroom Vroom” with lighter, sugary sounds of past albums “True Romance” and “Sucker,” and — like all her work — sounds like a soundtrack for the future.
Complex labeled Charli “primed to change the landscape of pop music,” during the release of her second album. But, rushed after the success of “Break the Rules,” Charli was not yet at her peak nor quite ready to embrace the label of pop.
Her upcoming album won’t mimic “Number 1 Angel,” but the mixtape proves Charli’s ability to write a perfect pop album in record time. Clever lyrics paired with demanding beats make the perfect backdrop for the hooks and personality Charli has become known for.
The singer told MNE, “It’s just songs that me and AG Cook made in two weeks in LA when I was, like, feeling really depressed.”
She later explained the mixtape to a Dallas radio station in January as “just, like, crying into the champagne [rather] than drinking it.”
The morbid club bangers invoke the same feelings of Jess Glynne’s “I Cry When I Laugh” with less drunken self pity and more sex and stimuli.
The album opens with “Dreamer,” an outlier from the other nine songs, which leads like rolling storm clouds before changing into the heavy synths and trap beats that characterize the rest of the mixtape.
While the feature artist are more unknown than whom Charli has previously worked with, the rising stars of hip-hop and pop featured on five out of 10 tracks make up the stronger half of the album. Along with Charli, they are heralds of a new pop age, heavier and darker than before.
“3AM (Pull Up),” one of the mixtape’s most danceable numbers, tells the story of Charli hyping herself up to drop a boy, with MØ coming in as the encouraging best friend.
These kinds of of numbers keep “Angel” grounded in complex emotion, as MØ croons “I don’t want to care anymore,” followed by “Roll With Me,” another booming club number with an overpowering hook basking in unapologetic emotion.
Chari dials downs at times, with tracks like “Blame It On You,” “Emotional” and “White Roses.” No more visceral than the rest of the mixtape, a slower Charli accompanied by bliss-inducing synths showcases her writing ability.
The album ends with “Lipgloss,” an ode to oral sex that shows listeners how seriously they should take this mixtape. Calling herself “sugary sweet,” Charli warns she’ll “rot your teeth.”
I can’t help but think of sugary, air-headed pop music, as CupcakKe comes in to rap about iCarly and eating pineapple. The mixtape will not remain Charli’s best work for long, but that is what makes it a perfect holdover till album three.
The mixtape never strays too far from the dance floor, but it might be a bit too melancholy for every-night playing. However, it keeps with Charli’s party girl vibe as she grows up from her try-hard first album and continues to explore new avenues for pop music.
“Angel” is very Charli XCX and showcases what she does best— writing pop music that’s more than just pop music. The mixtape should satisfy fans until her third album, which is sounding much less sentimental than “Number 1 Angel.”
For a holdover until her next album, the mixtape should more than satisfy us and showcases a thrilling subgenre of dark pop.