Nine years after the release of his first album, true romance, Britain’s Charli XCX has become the most fascinating of pop stars because of the great musical curiosity she displayed during her rise to the top of the charts. That’s why the dance-pop conformism of Crash disappoints, notwithstanding the strength of some very successful songs like Beg for You (with Rina Sawayama), a nod to the UK garage sound of twenty years ago, or the dance bombs Good Ones and Used to Know Me, their plump synths send us back to the 1990s. The hyperpop/experimental pop vein that she had so brilliantly explored on her two previous albums is muted here, despite the presence of collaborators AG Cook (head of the label PC Music), Oneohtrix Point Never and members of the audacious 100 gecs. The magnetic voice of the upcoming Osheaga festival headliner can’t even make the album’s more mundane songs exciting, starting with the disappointing collaboration with Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek, New Shapes.
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