Charli gave her first U.K. performance since the release of her eighth studio album Music, Fashion, Film.
Charli xcx
Henry Redcliffe
Earlier this week, Charli xcx took a trip down memory lane. Sitting with BBC Radio 1’s Jack Saunders, she reflected on her previous appearances as a performer at Reading Festival over the years. She was hard on herself in the way you can be when confronted with your younger, more idealistic, carefree self. “It’s cringing me out, if I’m honest,” she said of her 2017 performance. Her review of her 2019 show? She didn’t like her fringe much, she added. “This is a collection of some of the worst hairstyles and hair dyes ever throughout Reading & Leeds, it seems.”
This is typical Charli, though. Few acts in modern times are as achingly aware of their presentation, their overarching narrative as a creator, or how their music or eras are received. This mindset fueled Brat, an unapologetic riposte that had, indeed, buckets of intentionality behind it. Music, Fashion, Film, her new LP, finds her ruminating deeply on the direction of her career and if being a recording artist is even something she wants to do anymore, particularly as her head is turned by acting roles.
