Charli XCX Lets Us Know How She's Feeling Now With New Album Made In Self-Isolation

On April 6, Charli XCX reported her intention to try an experiment. Over the course of the next five weeks, lose create a brand-new album — including meeting the requires of music videos and promotion — all entirely from scratch while self-isolating. The end result of that period of creativity is finally here: As promised, it's called How I'm Feeling Now, and it's simply a vision.


The album comes loaded with the singles "Claws," "Forever," and "I Finally Understand," all trademark future-pop looks at her life in quarantine that also saw her embracing more stream-of-consciousness lyrics she shared with fans in real time as she was making them. The other eight songs here span from insanely catchy ("7 Years") and sugary ("Detonate") to Aphex Twin-reminiscent ("C2.0") and intimate and sprawling ("Party 4 U"). It all comes with each other thanks to production help from of trusted collaborators A.G. Cook and BJ Burton.





What we learned in the lead-up to the release — which also saw Charli shoot DIY and some days green screen-assisted visuals for "Forever" and "Claws" — was, simply, how Charli works. In a "quarantine diary" note shared ahead of the album announcement, she said how she's used to working speedily and why she still felt "eager to prepare and collaborate" despite the pandemic.


Last year, Charli released an eponymous album loaded with visitor collaborations from Lizzo, Haim, Troye Sivan, and more. She completed the structure of that one in about a month, also, so the genesis of How I'm Feeling Now, while still a challenge, noticed Charli right in her ideal creative zone.


"I like to bring in as several artists all over the world from different places and cultures because I feel like that is what really drives me to learn from them and to prepare ensure that they have a voice in my record," she told MTV News at the time. On the new album, that translates to visitor production work from 100 gecs's Dylan Brady, Dijon Duenas, Palmistry, and more.


Sonically, it's glitchy and pitch-shifted and swirling in and out of tiny embellishments that rattle an otherwise glossy pop foundation. It's an addictive listen, and at 37 minutes long, How I'm Feeling Now is a wonderful way to dive right into, well, how music sounds right now — and why it could sound in the near future.


get a head start by streaming the album in full above. Charli's also documented the full process on her social streams, including in-depth week-by-week summaries on YouTube. Watch those afterwards to be able to see a master at work.