True Romance
Details
LP / Format
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CRITIC REVIEWS
90
On True Romance, Charli XCX manages that rarest of things – a straight-up pop record that’s inventive and rewards repeated listening.
10y
85
The album is effectively a gallery of XCX’s work so far – the introductory, defining goth pop tracks, the expanding artistry beyond what Charli herself defined goth pop as, the balance she seems to be currently attempting to strike between the two; all are laid on display, denoting her roughly two year evolution in easy to trace lines.
10y
85
It's scintillating, razor-sharp and effortless, but most in-your-facedly, it's caked with pop glitter.
10y
83
In an era when too many up-and-comers are all too eager to please, this stubborn refusal to back down displays another quality in short supply: genuine irreverence.
10y
80
There isn’t a moment when Charli XCX doesn’t display the kind of wild, brash confidence that other artists take years to arrive at.
10y
80
London's Charlotte Aitchison is just 20, but she's already got four years of banging away at pop's door under her belt. By not rushing out an album until now, however, she seems to have found the time to iron out the creases that made her seem like one of a dozen similar acts.
80
Since quite a few of these songs were already road-tested, it's not surprising that this is a strong debut, but just how consistently catchy and personal True Romance is might raise a few eyebrows.
10y
75
Part of the pack she may be, but Charli XCX proves she's adventurous and unconventional enough to break out on her own.
10y
70
Her collage of pop dreams, electro flash, and diary-rage lyrics could very well create a new generation of pop stars, one in which being a weirdo is a necessity.
10y
70
Love, lust and longing are chronicled and dissected in True Romance through online relationships being gradually given tangible, tactile form, setting Charli up as a young pop star to be reckoned with.
10y
70
She has the ability to carve out some gorgeous pop songs, but seems to be trying to cover too many bases.
10y
70
She’s the fun pop you don’t have to be embarrassed about listening to, and she’s definitely worth focusing your attention. True Romance is certainly the true beginning of an illustrious career.
10y
70
True Romance is the pop-album equivalent of a wicked Tumblr.
67
Charlotte Aitchinson has an outstanding talent for melody and a durable vocal delivery. For now her ability seems to end there.
10y
60
At the moment, her music is best consumed in blog-sized chunks, not as a stodgy 48-minute album.
10y
60
True Romance is a valiant attempt that doesn’t do much more than provide the soundtrack for “getting ready to go out” songs on tinny laptop speakers.
10y
60
There’s much to enjoy on True Romance, although it’s probably best sampled in small doses as it doesn’t hang together that successfully over the course of an album.
10y
55
True Romance is a case of its variety and diversity hurting the album’s overall cohesiveness. After such a strong start, Charli proves she can make the kind of music that inspires strutting and stunting like nobody else in the murky indie-pop world.
50
While a few slivers of genuine spontaneity can be found throughout True Romance, particularly in the watery K-pop-esque opus "Nuclear Seasons," the sum as a whole feels rather forced.
30
Honestly, True Romance didn't offer me much that felt romantic or true. Aside from a few well-written and produced singles, this album mostly dishes out cookie cutter electropop with very little flair.
CHARLI XCX’S DISCOGRAPHY DIVE #1
Charli XCX is an artist whose back catalog I’ve always wanted to get into, but I just never have. I’ve heard her big singles, and her projects Charli and How I’m Feeling Now, and I’ve also really enjoyed the singles for the new album. So, with CRASH coming out at the end of the week, I decided to go through her discography and hear her projects for the first time, starting with her debut “True Romance”.
While this ... read more
Charli XCX's debut album, True Romance, is an interesting start for the British pop star, as she brings together elements of contemporary dance pop and synthpop onto more alternative/experimental pallettes through incorporations of alternative R&B, electro house, witch house, pop rap, and more, as Charli talks a lot on past relationships and overall love life, to overall solid success.
It's quite interesting being more familiar with Charli's newer works and hearing that there were glimpses ... read more
As a fan of Charli's work it was only a matter of time for me to go back and listen to her first two records. I will say I was not expecting to be as dis-favorable towards this project as I was but this project just has everything there is to dislike about 2013's pop music somewhere inside it. Coming out of Highschool at this time I was sorely bombarded with this era of pop all the time and it definitely soured my taste on the genre for a while. With that being said, there are still some good ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Nuclear Seasons 4:41 | 84 |
| 2 | You (Ha Ha Ha) 3:06 | 81 |
| 3 | Take My Hand 4:26 | 78 |
| 4 | Stay Away 3:47 | 80 |
| 5 | Set Me Free (Feel My Pain) 3:53 | 79 |
| 6 | Grins 3:52 | 75 |
| 7 | So Far Away 3:21 | 77 |
| 8 | Cloud Aura 2:44 feat. Brooke Candy | 68 |
| 9 | What I Like 3:01 | 75 |
| 10 | Black Roses 3:28 | 76 |
| 11 | You're the One 3:15 | 76 |
| 12 | How Can I 3:55 | 70 |
| 13 | Lock You Up 3:31 | 77 |
Total Length: 47 minutes
Year End Lists
| #6 | / | Idolator |
| #15 | / | Red Bull |
| #18 | / | Gorilla vs. Bear |
| #18 | / | Slant |
| #20 | / | Urban Outfitters |
| #24 | / | Amazon |
| #25 | / | No Ripcord |
| #33 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
| #49 | / | Complex |
| #59 | / | Under the Radar |
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Added on: February 26, 2013