Charli XCX shared a preview of the track on her official TikTok page. The “Beg for You” singer captioned the post: “This one is really cute and fun and I’m so lucky to have Sam Smith on it with me.” Fans can pre-save the song here. 

@charlixcx this one is really cute and fun and i’m so lucky to have @Sam Smith ♬ In The City – Charli XCX & Sam Smith

The new song, which will be released next week, will mark the first collaboration for Charli XCX and Smith. Smith, who released his fourth studio album Gloria earlier this year, appeared in Charli XCX’s music video “Speed Drive” for the 2023 Barbie movie. The video, which has just under four million views on YouTube, received a positive reception. One person wrote: “The fact that she keeps her hyper pop/car aesthetic intact whilst adapting her music to her audience is actual talent”, whilst another person commented: “Charli XCX does it again. Seems like she’s never had a bad song release. Speed Drive doesn’t feel overwhelming nor underwhelming to listen to. It’s a bop that’ll continue sticking around with you for a long time. Kinda had this on repeat many times at this point.” 

Watch the “Speed Drive” video.

Charli XCX, who had teased the song last week on her Instagram, is gearing up for her next album. The “Fancy” singer, who earned the star the 2015 NME Award for Dancefloor Filler, released her last studio LP in 2022. Crash, the singer’s fifth album, became the star’s first album to top the UK Albums Chart with over 16 thousand copies sold in its first week. Across the pond, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 with over 31 thousand copies sold – becoming the 31-year-old “Boom Clap” singer’s highest charting album in the US. 

Listen to Crash on Spotify.

Whilst it remains to be seen if the star will top the success of her fifth studio album, the singer has been working on her next album. Last month, the star had shared several photos and a video on her Instagram in a gallery – and captioned the post “album 6 I guess.” The post, which received over 241 thousand likes, had fans buzzing with anticipation over her next project.  

Charli XCX said in the clip: “Hello, I’m in the studio and I wanted to play a song I’ve been working on if you want to hear it. It’s cute.” 

The song, which is styled as an upbeat dance-pop record that Charli XCX is famous for, included the lyrics “I never thought I would find it, but I found what I was looking for/I found it in the city, in the dark/In the city, in your heart.”

Fans of the star were buzzing over the preview. One person commented: “song of the year song of the decade song of the century”, whilst another person wrote: “DROP IT NOW!”

The “1999” singer also had celebrities gushing over the track. American starlet Addison Rae, who released a collaboration in the summer with Charli XCX titled “2 Die 4 U” on her debut EP, simply wrote: “Favs.” Meanwhile, DJ and record producer Tiesto said: “Sounds Massive!” alongside two flame emojis. Similarly, Charli XCX also had five-time Grammy winner Sam Smith seated for the anticipated track, with the “Unholy” singer leaving the eyes emoji on the teased post.

Last month, Charli XCX fuelled rumours that she was working on a new album. The star shared multiple photos and a video in a gallery captioned “album 6 I guess.” The album will follow after Charli XCX’s 2022 record CRASH which featured hit singles such as “Baby” and “Good Ones.” The project was named as one of the best albums of 2022 by multiple publications, including Rolling Stone who ranked it at number 23 on their 100 Best Albums of 2022 list. The LP was also a commercial success for Charli XCX, becoming the star’s first album to top the UK Albums Chart.

Listen to “Baby” below.

Earlier this year, Charli XCX was featured on the Barbie movie soundtrack with the single “Speed Drive.” The track, which has over 3 million views on YouTube, peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart and at number 73 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The electropop and dance-pop inspired track was the third single to be released from the movie soundtrack after “Barbie World” and the lead single “Dance The Night.”

Watch the video for “Speed Drive.”

.@charli_xcx had the best reponse to the Brits’ failure to nominate any women for best artist. pic.twitter.com/zCkHN2FP50

— Mark Savage (@mrdiscopop) February 12, 2023

Charli has now made waves with her decision to part with Atlantic Records, whom she signed a five album deal with at just 16 years old. The details of her new record deal have not yet been revealed, but Charli did tease fans with a glimpse of her “brand new recording contract” in her ‘In the Bag’ video for British Vogue.

Charli reveals that she has signed a two album deal, stating in the video “We’re in business!” Rumours subsequently began to circulate that she had signed with Dirty Hit, an independent label home to No Rome, Pale Waves and Charli’s boyfriend George Daniel’s band, The 1975.

Charli has previously worked with numerous artists signed with Dirty Hit, most recently teaming up with George Daniel to remix Caroline Polachek’s new single, ‘Welcome To My Island’, so it wasn’t surprising that fans thought she may have signed with Dirty Hit herself.

However, she quickly put these rumours to rest, replying to a fan on Twitter saying “i’m too expensive for them.”

i’m too expensive for them https://t.co/1ZXWeqERfJ

— Charli (@charli_xcx) February 22, 2023

Speaking to NME in October 2022, Charli revealed that she wasn’t sure about becoming an independent artist, saying, “I like not having to foot the bill for everything at the beginning, that’s quite scary. Especially when you want to do things on the kind of scale that I did on the last record. I’m still exploring, definitely.”

She concluded that, “there’s so many interesting options that would work for me.”

Charli’s latest album CRASH released in March 2022 debuted at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming her first album to top the chart. CRASH also became her highest charting album in the US to date, debuting at No.7 on the Billboard 200.

Following this success, Charli expressed her confusion surrounding the lack of recognition for female artists at the Brits, tweeting “i only came to speak the truth hunny.’

i only came to speak the truth hunny: https://t.co/vJj5hYrPYS — Charli (@charli_xcx) February 12, 2023

Despite her lack of nomination for Best Artist, Charli was later seen wearing a very on-brand tongue in cheek outfit, with a slogan t-shirt reading ‘REAL WINNER.’

REAL WINNER pic.twitter.com/GKuWS9m3UV

— CHARLI XCX UPDATES (@FckyeahCharli) February 12, 2023

Fans are eagerly awaiting news on Charli’s plans for 2023, with hints at further collaborations and even a potential book being on the horizon.

Stream Charli XCX’s latest album here.

The film, directed by Halina Reijn, seems to be based on a group of friends playing a game called (you guessed it) bodies bodies bodies, where someone is selected, at random, to become the ‘murderer’. But, as we have all presumably picked up at this point, the ‘murderer’ becomes a murderer and the group spends the night trying to figure out whodunit. Amandla Stenberg, Pete Davidson, Maria Bakalova, and a handful of other exciting names floating around Hollywood at the moment all appear in the ‘Scream’-Esque slasher that should be hitting the silver screens on August 5^th.

There have been several releases under A24’s umbrella in the last few years that I’m confident in saying have become cult classics; The Lighthouse, and Hereditary for example – and even a handful of films this year that have caused quite a splash; X, and Everything Everywhere All At Once – pretty much anything with this logo attached is destined for a specific kind of fanbase. Taking a look at the trailer, it’s clear to see why Charli was picked to back the clip – the semi-neon colour palette, the overtly ironic social awareness, even the slightly tongue in cheek humour of it all. It just makes sense.

Aside from the chopped-up rendition of the song we can piece together through the trailer, we have been given no other information on the song at all. With no sign of the track on her latest album, Crash, fans will just have to wait for Charli to make a move. But presumably, we’ll hear the full version at some point. If we continue to move at the rate we have over the last few months, or maybe even years, then we’ll have a brand-new-full-length LP probably on shelves in about a month. That being said, Crash was okay. After the lofty heights reached on her previous 2 albums (how i’m feeling now, and Charli) I’d be more than happy to wait a little longer to allow a little more care and attention that Crash seemed to be lacking.

“Used To Know Me” is a colourful, upbeat track that wastes little time introducing itself, and the kaleidoscopic visuals of its accompanying video marry very well with it, setting fever dream light displays and lightning fast setting and outfit changes against an infectious synth ostinato and attitude laced vocals. The video was directed by Alex Lill and was under the creative direction of Imogene Strauss. The choreography direction came from Nathan Kim, who has also previously worked with Aitchison, and was featured as a dancer in the second season of the hit HBO show Euphoria.

Charli XCX (real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison)’s music career commenced in 2008, after posting music to Myspace, which garnered the attention of rave promoters, who invited her to perform at the events they held. Aitchison went on to express a degree of disdain towards her old music, calling it “fucking terrible Myspace music.”

Aitchison signed to Asylum Records in 2010, and her debut album True Romance was released in 2012, receiving generally favourable reviews from critics, with some of the music even being compared to the likes of Siouxise and the Banshees. SUCKER, her sophomore album, was received even more warmly than her debut, with critics praising its “throwback” sound. In a four-star review, Rolling Stone’s Will Hermes said of the album: “Sucker is no retro gesture: Charli runs the album’s rock & roll guitars and attitude through enough distressed digital production and thumb-type vernacular to make this the first fully updated iteration of punk pop in ages.”

Aitchison has gone on to release three albums since SUCKER; 2019’s Charli, 2020’s How I’m Feeling Now and 2022’s Crash. In addition, 2017 saw Aitchison releasing two somewhat experimental mixtapes: Number 1 Angel and Pop 2, the first of which saw contributions by avant-pop and hyperpop innovator SOPHIE.

2022’s Crash has also been subject to warm reception, with Pitchfork granting the album an 8/10 and saying: “Crash is how it feels to take a sledgehammer to the screen and look around with eyes wide open. Despite a couple of slightly weaker moments (oddly, the album’s lead singles), Crash is Charli’s best full-length project since Pop 2, a canny embrace of modern and vintage pop styles by one of its most sincere students. It sets a bar for creative mainstream pop: the ruthless, intoxicating dream factory that can chew you up and spit you out and leave you coming back for more.”

‘Baby’ is a tale of possession and self-assuredness, perfectly summarizing the thought and attitude of the record. The video comes in to illustrate Charli’s desires with an incredible routine, choreographed by Charli’s close collaborator Nathan Kim. Of the song Charli confesses, “The track is about great sex.”. ‘Baby’ debuted on Zane Lowe’s New Music Daily show yesterday, with its debut performance slated to be on SNL this week. This appearance comes 3 months after the star was supposed to appear, but was forced to cancel due to a lack of crew as a result of COVID-19.

Charli’s highly-anticipated forthcoming album, CRASH, will be released on 18th March and is the fifth and final album in her record deal, pre-order information can be found here. Charli kicks off her 21-date North American tour in Los Angeles on 26th March followed by her 17-date UK and European tour which starts in Dublin on 13th May with support from Baby Tate, ELIO, Yeule, Magdalena and A. G. Cook. See full tour dates here.

Another song we know to have made its way onto the album is her recent collaboration with up-and-coming electro-pop superstar Rina Sawayama. In a statement released about the single, Charli had this to say about the track’s meaning, “[it] encapsulates cult theology within popular culture; worship of an image, obsession of a higher power, ritualistic and superstitious practices and the sacrifice for perfection.” The video, filmed in Lancaster, California, the video was directed by Nick Harwood in the same place that the iconic final scene of Se7en was filmed, featuring Brad Pitt having an unfortunate encounter with a box. The press release describes symbolism relating to the cult of celebrities and superstition.

Charli also took to Twitter recently to address some of the poor reception that the new tracks received online. At one point a fan called her ‘mother’, and Charli responded “If u wanna throw around midlife crisis fucking throw it at me. I’m getting older, I’m getting hotter, my tits are stunning, I’m in great shape, I’m dancing, I’m progressing and I’m living my best life – and that the tea.”

OH and finally if u wanna throw around midlife crisis fucking throw it at me – I’m getting older, I’m getting hotter, my tits are stunning, I’m in great shape, I’m dancing, I’m progressing and I’m living my best life – and that the tea

— Charli (@charli_xcx) March 1, 2022

See below Charli XCX’s full UK tour dates:

13/05/2022 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin
5/05 – O2 Academy – Glasgow
17/05 – Victoria Warehouse – Manchester
18/05 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
19/05 – Alexandra Palace – London
21/05 – UEA – Norwich
22/05 – O2 Academy – Sheffield
23/05 – Rock City – Nottingham

Beginning with lead single ‘Crash‘, the collection is launched into distorted guitar and drums which clearly portray the song’s title, with the lyrics, “If you ask me one more question, I’m about to crash.” The track was produced by Nick Hakim and made an appearance on the Radio 1 show Future Sounds With Annie Mac as her Hottest Record in the World on the day of its release.

Speaking directly to Annie Mac on the radio show, Nanya discussed her writing process: “I started writing it last year and it was a pretty busy year for me. I was just touring a lot, playing lots of shows – I think I actually started writing it on the road which I don’t normally ever do, so that was a first.”

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A post shared by Nilufer Yanya (@niluferyanyaaaaaa)

As a whole, ‘Feeling Lucky?’ explores themes of good, bad, and the unpredictability of both. Yanya said in a press release, “One of the songs had the theme of luck in it as a concept but then I realised they all do. That got me thinking about luck in general; good and bad.”

These themes are continued on ‘Same Damn Luck’, co-written by Will Archer, which sees the artists singing about a break up with some surprising comparisons to the current restrictions in the UK due to Covid-19. For example, “News, all bad news lately/Every single time that you called and said/”Girl, stay in, they all knew, they all knew/I told you, I told.” The music video for ‘Same Damn Luck’ was also released today to coincide with the EP.

According to a press release, the singer had this to say about the song: “I hadn’t quite escaped what I thought I previously had. A personal reminder in the form of a pop ballad that the past is never that far away and will regularly come back to haunt you.”

The last song of the EP is ‘Day 7.5093′, taking a groovy approach to the instrumental with a walking bass line and a chorus consisting entirely of the word “Yeah” sung repetitively in Yanya’s intriguing breathy voice. Its first appearance was in July when it was performed live on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert which Yanya took part in. It was later released on Bandcamp in October for only 24 hours for the Good Music To Avert The Collapse of American Democracy Comp.

‘Crash’ has been hugely anticipated and was well-received by fans. Musically, the song reflects the title well with its crashing drums and distorted guitar, while on the other hand Nanya’s vocals are clean and reserved to contrast. The music video was also released yesterday, and has already gained close to 8,000 views. In the visual, the lyrics are taken literally as the singer is found performing from a control room dressed as a flight attendant.

Nanya explained the premise of the single and the video to Pitchfork, saying “Last year, doing a lot of touring I found myself becoming more and more anxious each time I boarded a plane, something which was new for me as I’ve never had a fear of flying. With each flight we took it felt like the turbulence was getting worse and I was convinced my luck was due to run out. I didn’t write ‘Crash’ about being on an aeroplane but I really like it visually as an embodiment of the song.”

Speaking directly to Annie Mac on the radio show, Nanya discussed her writing process: “I started writing it last year and it was a pretty busy year for me. I was just touring a lot, playing lots of shows – I think I actually started writing it on the road which I don’t normally ever do, so that was a first.” It was also confirmed that there are two more tracks on the way, which will form an EP along with ‘Crash’, to be titled ‘Feeling Lucky?’.

Along with ‘Crash’, Mac played a song from Nanya’s 2019 album ‘Miss Universe’: ‘Heavyweight Champion of the Year’. As detailed by the presenter, the debut album was widely acclaimed, and it was noted by many that Nanya has an incredible ability to move between musical styles.

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C R A S H out now on all platforms:) Produced by @en_hakim Means a lot more to be able to release music this year in this strange worrrrld than any other time so thank you for listening xxx @apocalypticvirgin thanks for the photoooo

A post shared by Nilufer Yanya (@niluferyanyaaaaaa) on Oct 20, 2020 at 10:16am PDT

The rapper shared videos of the incident with his one million followers on Instagram. “Fucking hell man, never crashed a fucking Ferrari bruv”, the 23-year old says in an Instagram story.

“Police were called at approximately 1.50pm on Sunday May 24 to reports of a damage-only collision on Northumberland Avenue, Westminster”, a Metropolitan Police spokeswoman reports. A Twitter user who witnessed the aftermath of the crash posted pictures of the damaged Ferrari with the words “the remains of a Ferrari on Northumberland Avenue. Damaged bus in the background. All three emergency services in attendance along with Westminster’s cleaning team tidying up the mess.” The by-passer did not see the accident but reports “no sign of any injured people or driver. The road was still closed but footpath open.”

The remains of a Ferrari on Northumberland Avenue. Damaged bus in the background. All three emergency services in attendance along with Westminster’s cleaning team tidying up the mess. pic.twitter.com/OUH2upiYT4

— Dickie's Ticker (@DickiesTicker) May 24, 2020

The rapper, who was born in Greenwich, released his debut single ‘It’s A Lie’ in 2017, followed up by his 2018 breakthrough hit ‘Lyca’, which has over 60 million streams on Spotify and surpassed 10 million YouTube views within the first six months after its release. His most recent track ‘Houdini’, on which he collaborated with rappers KSI and Tion Wayne, just got released last month. The South East London based musician is influenced by reggae artists such as legendary Bob Marley.

During lockdown the rapper has kept his fans entertained via Instagram livestreams, teasing that “something big” is coming in one of them. Let’s hope that by ‘something big’ he doesn’t mean another luxury car crashing.