British pop titan Charli XCX has released a new music video for “Used To Know Me”, a track taken from her newest album Crash, which was released on the 18th of March. You can check out the vibrant video at the link below.
“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.”
