bored

So now we have the Love Sux album and she's confirmed a deluxe edition plus possible second albums worth of songs; I took a look back at the confirmed tracks to see which ones we still haven't heard. Love Sux: leftovers from the Love Sux sessions: It was rumoured that 3 new tracks would be included on the upcoming deluxe version, it's not confirmed if this is new material (as she has been seen recording lately) or leftovers from the original sessions.

And After The Afterparty... Honestly I think we got the best of album released officially, the only other track I wish had a proper release was Waterfall (or I Wanna Be With U)

I mean an album that includes Sucker, Breaking Up, Doing It, Body Of My Own, Famous, Caught In The Middle and Need Ur Luv is not a bad album. Plus 3 hit singles! And the visuals / aesthetic of the era was great!

So... Maybe I'm overestimating the concept of this era.... But since her comments about Beg For You (basically being the song that samples another which all female singers at Atlantic are expected to do) I feel as though everything about this era has been deliberate. Launching the era with OUT OUT, it's very common that female pop stars have to some sort of smash hit before the label is willing to push ahead with an album cycle. And is it a coincidence that Charli and co. just happened to drop this track before the launch of her comeback single? It did the job, it went top 10. Good Ones was the big shiny pop video, with the very current 80s trend throughout. Kind of debuted an image change from Charli (as we knew her in the last era), another thing female pop stars are expected to do. Everybody loves a comeback! The "iconic" video, the serves etc etc. Then New Shapes, something a little more left field, still pop but feels more alternative? We know labels love to pivot when a single doesn't smash like they expected. And the inclusion of Chris and Caroline feels like the sort of alt pop pandering her label would do. Obviously we know they're her friends but keep in mind that this would be a concept. Then we get Sweat, everybody loves a demo or unreleased track that doesn't make the final cut. Would a pop girl album rollout be complete without an orphaned single or abandoned track? Charli is no stranger to this when we look back at the 2016/2017 album rollout that eventually ground to a hault. The album artwork itself, again a lot of pop stars have a cohesive vision when it comes to singles/videos etc. And somehow the album art tends to veer off into something that loosely ties in. I love the album cover and think it's one of Charli's best... But it's quite different to the single art we've been getting. Then we have Baby, the rumoured 3rd single, the one that's been teased after a quiet period. We've been given a snippet of the music video and yet nothing? We all know record labels love to change their minds last minute when they think they could potentially have a hit with another song. ie. Beg For You. The song that was written for the artist and has a classic sample, screams hit. The sudden third single with last minute music video etc. Whilst Baby sits rotting away. I could be reaching but it feels like this was Charli's intenion, to give us a condensed pop girl album campaign, and an authentic one at best, which details all the shit a female singer has to go through just to be able to release a body of work. And I am thoroughly enjoying the hypothetical chaos.

I still think she doesn't get enough credit for her songwriting. Like, over the last 3 years we've had some amazing albums and multiple career highs. And she seems to only be getting better with Blue Banisters and Watercolor Eyes! If you look at the amount of music we've gotten in just over 2 years, and the quality overall. There's nobody else doing it like her and she doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon... I wouldn't be surprised if we get more new music throughout this year and personally I can't wait. I've put a list of the songs I'm talking about above, below. And wow, that's only half her discography.

That's cool. Personally I hate when artists put non-singles or album tracks on a greatest hits album. Like I understand they do it for the fans but like the general public just want the classics and the songs they know, you get me? Also I tried to condense it on to what would be 1 CD or a 2LP release. I guess a fan version or deluxe version with the album tracks and less successful singles could be cool as a bonus disc?

Below is my rating of her music videos, from best to worst. I think I might have missed one or two from the True Romance era... But yeah. I have a feeling my favourite is gonna be a little controversial.

I really wish we'd gotten a greatest hits record with the launch of PLAY. Firstly, compilation albums have made a bit of a comeback recently and secondly it'd maybe be helpful to remind the general public of just how many hits she has before she releases her next record. I mean the hits are undeniable... 10 #1 singles on one album?! As well as multiple top 10 and top 20 singles.

I'd love to see some sort of reissue with outtakes and demos, even unseen images from the photoshoot etc. However I have a feeling we'll just get a new vinyl variant, maybe a limited edition coloured version or a repress of the picture disc. As for the Dark Paradise music video, I don't think it exists... She initially said that it was gonna be filmed in September of 2012 but then Paradise was announced and we got the music videos for Ride and Blue Velvet instead. I'd love for them to do a 10th anniversary edition CD and vinyl with unreleased tracks. And maybe a deluxe vinyl box set, like the original album on 7" singles? And hopefully Paradise will get it's own anniversary in November.

I personally think there's a strong and cohesive project buried within Charli. Just remove the label singles and rejig the tracklist and it's a great listen. Definitely not as experimental as the mixtapes but a nice compromise between that sound and something more mainstream.

I always imagined a mainstream Charli compilation being something like this... Come To My Party being the exclusive previously unreleased track, then the rest being her more bubblegum pop sounding singles / hits. 01. Come To My Party 02. 1999 (ft. Troye Sivan) 03. Break The Rules 04. SuperLove 05. No Angel 06. Boys 07. Blame It On Your Love (ft. Lizzo) 08. Boom Clap 09. Girls Night Out 10. Doing It (ft. Rita Ora) 11. White Mercedes 12. Famous 13. After The Afterparty

A producer leaked an early draft of the tracklist, others have been confirmed in interviews. Originally the album had 15 songs, 2 bonus tracks and 1 b-side... So it'll be interesting to see what we finally get.

A list of confirmed song titles we have so far.

The run from Arcadia through to Thunder... Damnnnnn Might be my favourite album run from her since Ultraviolence's first half...

01. 02. Raise Me Up (Mississippi South) 03. Off To The Races 04. Ride 05. West Coast 06. High By The Beach 07. Cherry 08. California 09. White Dress 10. Thunder

I really hope she can make top 3 in the US, that way all of her albums will have charted top 3 on Billboard. I think she'll likely get #02 or #03 in the UK too. Can't believe Honeymoon is her only album not to hit #01 thus far here in the UK. Also, impressive that she's still charting like this, 10 years into her career, 8 projects deep and all without radio hits and major promotion.

Still completely hooked on this album, just heard If You Lie Down With Me on Radio 1 for the first time and what a song... Honestly her singles run (bar Lust For Life era) is pretty flawless.

I am honestly floored by this album, I loved NFR and Chemtrails, however found myself returning to Chemtrails a lot more as an album. But this project coming just months later and being even better makes me so excited for whatever is next from her! Is this a thing? Here in the UK, digital, CDs, cassettes and the black vinyl were available on release day...

As much as I love having the older 2013/2014 songs officially, I do wish we'd gotten more new material. Between Chemtrails and Blue Banisters there's some amazing tracks that could quite honestly make a real eclectic and exciting Lana album. In no particular order but these songs curated would be an amazing body of work...

I really hate that all the unreleased tracks are stuck at the back of the record. I haven't heard it yet but I've changed my track list based on the titles and what the record would be like if titled Arcadia...

It's very very different for Lana but also so her if that makes sense? I'd say it's very Lizzy Grant meets Ultraviolence/Honeymoon era Lana Del Rey. I'm hoping Lana is more present on the final version (if there is one) as the leak is more of a duet, kinda feels like Lana is a feature haha. But it's honestly really fresh and exciting for her, especially after the soundscape of the last two records.

I'm really excited for the next era, she's mentioned a couple of times now that she's writing and booked sessions for the next album. And I imagine Columbia will wanna capitalise on the success of the Plastic Hearts era. One thing I'm hoping for from this new record deal is more commitment to an album. RCA kinda fucked around with the singles on her last few projects and I doubt Miley is innocent either. Hopefully they'll commit to a full singles campaign cos honestly she could have an even better singles discography post Disney. What her singles run could have been:

Thunder better be a single! The way that scrapped album with The Last Shadow Puppets would've been a career high! California, Dealer and Thunder all on one record. Damn.

Anybody know if the Lover cassette is still available in the UK?

Honestly i really hope we get some sort of tour from her... Her stage presence is unmatched and just wow, she is a star! I made my dream Plastic Hearts tour: