This is
https://open.spotify.com/album/4bR7pd6TVS53l24qFV4wI8?si=4W3IVBqiTI-2mKGkdhVzaw&utm_source=copy-link
These comments were written a week after the release of the album.
Rock Music*
Her first single of the MFF era that made a sharp left turn on the general public’s expectations of this album. Making rock music after releasing a commercially successful electronic/dance record seems unprecedented. However, upon listening to this album, this song and the choice to make it the lead single makes a strong statement: I won’t be put into the main pop girl box you want me in, I’m making the box how I see fit.
SS26*
I actually really like this song and what it has to say. While I’m not personally a fan of anti-capitalism rhetoric in my media, it comes off differently in song. Materialistic things, trend chasing, and capitalizing off of background and belief lead us into a runway that goes straight to unethical and in genuine hell.
Card Declined
I feel like this song can be viewed in two ways: either a breakup with a partner or a loss of self.
Given the theme of this album, I would assume it’s my second interpretation. We’re all slaves to capitalism it seems.
Sonically, the production reflects that second theme I established as well as “Card Declined” is dark, reverbed, and maturely produced. When the song transitions to “I Keep Thinking About You” the song feels like it’s reversing itself. Finally, when the transition is complete, the production is rather simple and positive. Maybe almost positively hopeful?
Camera^
Putting on a facade that only exists in the universe of the set/film/whatever is being shot on camera must be a shackle-less feeling. Charli describes being on camera as the only place where she can feel vulnerable without judgement because it can be pass off as “acting” even if the emotion on camera is how she actually feels.
That first verse doesn’t feel like she’s directly talking about being on camera though. It comes across as a reflection of whether or not she still wants to be famous or not (but the later verses describe that being on camera is exhilarating but also her vulnerable safe space).
2007
A straightforward track with glitchy y2k effects that reminisce the low barrier of entry to stardom and how tight-knit the online community was for art since those pockets of the internet were still “niche” and not yet influenced by today’s algorithms
I’m Afraid
I didn’t realize how profoundly sad these lyrics are and I love how the chorus replicates the feeling of a spiraling mental breakdown.
When you’re proposed to and your first instinct is to spiral about all the things that are wrong with you and may be wrong with you… oh you’re so real. However, it’s as though Charli read my mind and knew how I said I’d find it relatable because in the second verse she states while the pain she feels deludes herself into thinking she is a better artist, her selfish act of not sharing it with those close to her (in this case George) may be the root of her spiral.
Yeah
I’m taking from The Swiftologist’s book here and I agree: this song clowns listeners who hated that this album isn’t Brat 2.0 but upon listening to this album, they want to “feel it”.
However, she starts the song say she doesn’t want to feel it but then eventually feeling it. This feels rather open-ended to me because what is it?
Wink Wink*
I hate the talk singing but that chorus is too good.
This song is kind of meta. She kinda pokes fun at people assuming she is a bad role model by admitting that is.
“Here’s the truth and I gotta be honest / I’m not a bad girl anymore I promise (wink wink)”
There’s also the juxtaposition of a carefree, cheerful, and uplifting rock beat clashing against ironically raunchy and unserious lyrics like “And maybe I fucked your Dad / Just kidding, I’m only saying that for effect / But my point is I think people can change”
Persona
I wonder who this is supposed to be about… who’s that fake person in your life to call them out like this…
Magic Metal Montana
I know this is supposed to be a love letter to A.G. Cook.
No One Last Forever featuring David Cronenberg
I wonder if a mix between this and Forever from HIFN will sound good. I feel like the instrumentally sound the same.
Charli gets it… things come and go. Nothing matters, but that’s why you cherish the present.
The people behind the music, fashion, and film of the past are dead and gone. No one lasts forever. If the people who make the music, fashion and film who impact the world today died, they will be dead and gone. No one lasts forever. They won’t be around to experience how their art impacts the world going forward. When you think about your life, whether the artist or not, you will most likely think of the memories you made with your friends and family, not the work you put out or your legacy. When you internalize that the work you put out there will have its moment (moment as in a temporary and reserved part) in time, you will realize that freedom is oblivion. Let it go, and focus on the present.
This song was a beautiful conclusion and summation of the thesis of the album. We love how we believe it is the art around us that forms us, but it is the relationships we cultivate that we do. MFF is a result of this inspiration.
*Released as Singles before Album Release
^Released as Singles during/after Album Release