Senior Editor at Pitchfork Anna Gaca returns to Pop Pantheon for the second in our three-part series on Charli XCX. Anna and Louie look back on Charli’s early link-ups with "hyperpop" innovator Sophie, starting with 2016’s Vroom Vroom EP, which began Charli's pivot from an also-ran on the pop charts into the genre’s savviest alternative auteur. From there, they chart her adventurous new creative direction, her work with frequent creative partner A.G. Cook on her 2017 mixtapes, the sugar-rush Number 1 Angel and the critically-beloved Pop 2. Finally, they discuss Charli's scrapped third studio album, XCX World, her failure to launch commercial singles in the U.S. and her 2019 self-titled album Charli. 

Join us next week for our third and final part in the series, which will cover Charli’s output from 2020’s How I’m Feeling Now through brat.

Check out Pop Pantheon's Charli XCX Essentials Spotify Playlist

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