Review Summary: A step back from the cutting edge? Not that bad a move.
It’s her sellout era. It’s her last record for Atlantic. It’s her attempt at a chart-topper of an album, her version of what the top 12 Billboard tracks should like on this given week in the year of our Lord 2022. And for someone who spent the past five years - that’s two albums, two mixtapes, and one legendary EP - pushing the envelope with the PC Music crew, Crash feels like a step back from that cutting edge production that’s been splattered all across her current image and sound.
But that’s not a bad thing at all - in fact, I posit that keeping the sounds less challenging (more inviting) emphasizes the necessity for a mean hook, and CRASH delivers those in spades. Is Good Ones a simple synthwave track that could’ve spent some more time with that twinkly melody that pops up 90 seconds in? Yes. But “I want the bad ones cause I roll alone/I always let the good ones go” just absolutely slayed my brain and lived in there for weeks after the single dropped. New Shapes, with its sparse and crisp production, had the same effect on me with its simple “What you want? I ain’t got it” left playing in my head, accompanying notes and all. Lightning also comes crashing in with an arena-sized hook that comes off as the albums highlight.
Aside from what I think is her best songwriting in ages, the appeal of CRASH lies mainly in its takes on recent pop trends and tropes. Good Ones could’ve slotted in on a recent The Weeknd album. Yuck sounds like it was plucked from Calvin Harris’ Funk Wav Bounces. Move Me is sultry electro R&B(which she sounds excellent on), Every Rule is that sappy ballad, and all those tracks are done really well! Even the ones that approach pushing the envelope are pretty fun - the self-titled opener is a whirlwind of repetitive lyrics and flow, nu-jack swing, sound effects and a grin-inducing solo as the cherry on top.
The only place CRASH falters in this reviewer's opinion is its attempts at interpolation. The ideas are certainly there, but they just don’t do enough to warrant the uses - Used To Know Me almost gets the green light for the chorus playing with the melody of Robin S.’ iconic Show Me Love, but it just feels like the meat of the song is the sample. Even worse, Beg For You does nothing enticing with its ‘Cry For You’ sample. As a double whammy, Rina Sawayama feels like she’s just…there, not doing all that much.
I think a lot of fans will listen to CRASH and feel like Charli regressed because she unchecked ‘sounding like a bunch of pots and pans in a washing machine’ from her list of necessities. It’s unfortunate because I think this is some of her best material in a really long time - look past the low points and there’s some really good stuff to be found in the songwriting. Emotionally revealing closer Twice feels like it doubles as an ode to her creative process - take that idea in your head and deliver it as best you can.
So here’s to your ‘sellout’ era, Charli. It’s catchy, it’s accessible, and it’s still fun. You’re finally free, girl.
