A portion of the editorial staff evaluates Charli XCX’s ‘Card Declined’. Vote in the poll to share what you think of her new album, ‘Music, Fashion, Film’.
“All this suffering makes Charli XCX believe she is a better artist. In her new album ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ she shifts the club-pop shine of ‘brat’ toward a language grounded in guitar distortion and punk immediacy, yet she preserves the confessional lyricism of the previous album and its profound dissatisfaction.”
Pocos temas representan mejor el concepto de ‘Card Declined’. La imagen ya impacta: Charli se dispone a pagar una serie de objetos materiales muy, muy caros, desde un bolso hasta un sofá Mah Jong, pero ninguna compra compulsiva llena el vacío, un agujero sin fin.
In ‘Card Declined’, material goods are no longer enough to “buy yourself a smile.” This conflict collapses between raw, distorted chords, delicious grunge textures, and the precise use of autotune in the final stretch, while the composition unfolds anesthetized and weighed down, because the card has lost all its luster and its ability to bring happiness.
The song, with a vibe I’m not sure whether nods to Porches, to Pavement, or to the cruder and more rock‑leaning Scout Niblett, eludes any conventional pop structure and relies on hypnotic and captivating repetition, symbolizing a life still trapped in an infinite loop of suffering. The ending includes one of the B-sides, the only decision that doesn’t quite fit.” Jordi Bardají
