Truly, Charli XCX blessed 2017 — not only with the Number 1 Angel mixtape and the flirty "Boys" single, but also as a Roséwave role model. That mixtape in particular, released in March, gave a window into the songwriter's expanding tastes beyond 2014's Sucker, featuring a squad of singers and producers playing with and pushing pop music. With it, Charli XCX made the argument that PC Music's alien pop production, trap's syrupy beats and her own brand of bombastic pop not only deserve equal footing in pop's increasingly homogenized landscape, but that this wild cocktail is irresistible.
Teased on Twitter and confirmed Thursday on BBC Radio 1, Charli XCX has announced her second mixtape of the year, POP 2. MØ and CupcakKe are back, after jumping on Number 1 Angel, contributing vocals, with Carly Rae Jepsen, Caroline Polachek (formerly of Chairlift) and others adding more cherries on top of this dream track-list sundae.
A pair of Scandinavian pop singers — Tove Lo from Sweden and Alma from Finland — appear on the first single, "Out Of My Head," a minimal piece of boom-bap electro-pop produced by return collaborators SOPHIE and A.G. Cook.
POP 2 comes out Dec. 15 via Atlantic Records.
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