- A fiery return to the UK pop star's dance music roots with a hint of electroclash.
- In a recent interview with The Face, Charli XCX said she missed "the time when pop music was really volatile and crazy… the Paris Hilton days." For someone like the UK singer—whose 15-year pop career took off through posting songs on MySpace in 2008 and performing at warehouse raves—this should come as no surprise. She's always been quite the party girl, with the music to back it up. And while she's shapeshifted back and forth from leftfield, forward-thinking pop to mainstream chart ploys, she's always maintained a cult status amongst the most dedicated of pop music fans.
"Von dutch," the lead single from Charli's new, dance music-inspired album BRAT, is a true and chaotic return to form. Produced by Easyfun, it's a supercharged blast of dance pop, club and electroclash. Its gritty yet freewheeling production is a nod to mid-'00s bloghouse while toying with the hyperpop elements of releases like Pop 2. It sounds like the Charli XCX of both "I Love It" and SOPHIE-produced "Vroom Vroom", a triumphant testament to mainstream music's ongoing preoccupation with underground beats. "I'm just living that life / Von Dutch / Cult classic / But I still pop," she sings defiantly, referencing the iconic trucker hat brand—the same kind of cultural nostalgia and enduring coolness that amplifies her own credibility and pop star status. With "Von dutch," Charli XCX reminds us that she's still rich and famous (maybe now more than ever), still cooler than your mainstream faves, and still hitting up every gay club imaginable.
Correction, March 2nd: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated that "Von dutch" samples Bodyrox's "Yeah Yeah."