Charli XCX's 'How I'm Feeling Now' is a masterclass in experimental pop for the genre-less generation

Ahlgrim: Although I did enjoy Charli's self-titled 2019 album, it was a little scattered and feature-heavy for my taste. Somewhat ironically, "How I'm Feeling Now" does a much better job at putting Charli front and center — as both a fully-fledged person with wide-ranging thoughts and feelings, and as a one-of-a-kind musical innovator.

Charli has always been a harbinger of a weirder brand of pop, and she's become an icon in many niche circles. But I hope this is the album that really cements her as a tastemaker on a larger scale.

Nothing else sounds like the music Charli is making, and she deserves the kind of mainstream success and praise that we've seen heaped upon greener, genre-defying artists — all of whom have benefited from her fearless experimentation, whether they realize it or not.

"How I'm Feeling Now" is the culmination of years of quiet trailblazing and a truly unique album that only Charli, with her constantly bubbling creative energy, could make. Of course, she built it from scratch in just two months of quarantine.

Larocca: "How I'm Feeling Now" is Charli's most cohesive work to date, with some of her strongest tracks ever created. I came away from the album knowing with near-complete certainty that "Party 4 U" is Charli's greatest song of all time.

Some of the other biggest wins for me were "Claws," "I Finally Understand," and "Enemy," although really every track (barring "C2.0" and maybe "Visions") are new bright spots in Charli's discography.

Charli should start enforcing strict timelines and crowdsourcing material for all of her work going forward if this is what happens when she does. She's an artist with a killer gut instinct about what works, and while she flourishes when she sings about overthinking, she produces her best stuff when she doesn't have the time to doubt herself.

Worth listening to:

"Pink Diamond"

"Forever"

"Claws"

"7 Years"

"Detonate"

"Enemy"

"I Finally Understand"

"Party 4 U"

"Anthems"

Background music:

"Visions"

Press skip:

"C2.0"

*Final album score based on songs per category (1 point for "Worth listening to," .5 for "Background music," 0 for "Press skip").

Ahlgrim: I'm not sure we needed two hardcore rave songs back-to-back, and I'd pick "Anthems" over "Visions" given the choice. Pieces of this one sound like a glorified laser tag shoot-out. It's definitely not a "skip," per se, I just wonder if the tracklist would've felt cleaner if it had ended on "Anthems" instead.

Larocca: For me, "Visions" gets lost amongst the rest of the tracks, which is strange considering it's the closer. This one comes off a bit more like an afterthought or maybe an epilogue. I think the album would've been stronger without it, but including it isn't a major offense.

Ahlgrim: It's so iconic to open a party song made in quarantine with the dead-panned declaration, "I'm so bored."

I can't wait to dance to "Anthems" in the world outside of my apartment. It's the perfect song for the sort of underground warehouse rave that only the coolest New Yorkers know about. I could also see the characters in "Skins" getting drunk and losing their minds to this song. (That's meant to read as a massive compliment.)

Larocca: "I'm so bored" will always be a great way to open a track — especially for someone like Charli who evokes major cool girl energy. (Cool girls always look bored, what can I say?)

I'm impressed with Charli's ability to make her self-isolation routine at home — "Wake up late, eat some cereal," "Lose myself in a TV show / Staring out to oblivion" — sound less like the existential crisis it is, and more like the perfect backdrop for a rave (albeit, in another timeline where raves still exist and we're not all trapped inside our bedrooms.)

Ahlgrim: The pseudo-rap style is really trendy for pop girls right now, which means it can easily feel forced — but Charli always manages to pull it off and make it sound fresh.

Charli has a really impressive understanding of her vocal control and tone, and "Party 4 U" is an excellent example of that. She manages to let her voice melt into the larger soundscape without getting lost in it.

I don't know exactly how to justify this metaphor, but it's the image that kept coming to my mind, so here it is: She sounds like an alien at a chill house party, unbothered and draped in silk.

Larocca: You know when you're at a dying house party around 4 a.m. when most everyone's either left or asleep on the floor, and you're either mindlessly braiding your best friend's hair or snuggling into your partner in the corner? This is the song that's playing.

I wouldn't normally describe Charli's style as anything remotely close to warm and fuzzy, but somehow this song is exactly that. She sounds so soft!

Ahlgrim: OK, this one felt a bit like an assault on my eardrums when I listened with my over-the-ear headphones. The production's sharp edges could've done with some buffing.

About halfway through, there's a transition to a softer production style, but the looped vocals in the background are distracting. I don't dislike "C2.0," but it's the first song in the tracklist that I didn't unquestionably enjoy.

Larocca: "C2.0" is marked by production that can only be described as staticky and grating. About halfway through, a heavily autotuned Charli repeats "clique" over and over: it's robotic, overwhelming, and all-consuming. I don't think I can get behind this one.

Ahlgrim: I resisted listening to "I Finally Understand" when it was released as a single because I wanted to absorb the full effect of this album as much as possible. I definitely see now why it was selected for promo; it's super catchy, cleaner and more minimalistic than much of the album, and very strong lyrically.

I love an uncensored, diaristic line like, "My therapist said I hate myself really bad." It doesn't oversell the point, but it's blunt and striking.

Larocca: This is definitely a favorite for me. The steady beat throughout reminds me of Grimes' "Oblivion," (which is, quite frankly, Grimes' best song to date) and I love how completely overdramatic Charli is about finding a love so strong she thinks it "might kill me, put me in the ground."

Ahlgrim: To me, the centerpiece of "Enemy" is the wordless landscape that comes after the second chorus, and then again after the last chorus (not sure exactly what to call it — this song really resists simple structural labels). It reminds me a bit of the hook in Billie Eilish's "Bad Guy," mixed with hints of the maximalist instrumental breakdown in Lorde's "Hard Feelings."

At almost four minutes in length, "Enemy" is not particularly short for a traditional pop song, but it doesn't overstay its welcome.

It actually sounds like one of the most focused songs on the entire tracklist. The voice memo in the bridge doesn't interrupt its momentum, but rather adds depth and intrigue.

Larocca: "Enemy" is the most grounded song on this tracklist; Charli pulls way back, building the track up through the sheer power of her voice and the glitteriest of synthesizers.

About two-thirds of the way through, a voice memo plays where you can hear the uncertainty in her voice as she explains exactly how she's feeling: "I don't fully understand it yet. It hurts here, it hurts. Yeah."

It's nice to see Charli exposing her vulnerability so blatantly. I don't think this "quarantine album" would be genuine without it.

Ahlgrim: I'm immediately hooked by this song's intro: a little cutesy, a little mod, a little retro Nintendo. When the beat comes in, it really fills out the song's empty spaces in a pleasant, colorful way. Charli knows exactly how to sprinkle a soundscape with fashionable flourishes and unexpected details without letting it sound overloaded.

One of the best things about this album so far is that — despite the self-imposed time crunch and global panic it was created in — I feel like I can hear Charli thriving. I can't think of any artist better suited to be creative in this kind of environment, and it's refreshing to hear her unspool the nuances of her relationship, rather than waxing poetic about nice cars and being drunk in the morning.

"Vroom Vroom" and "5 in the Morning" are both bops, don't get me wrong, but I'm really enjoying the vulnerability and depth on this record.

Even when she's second-guessing herself, like she describes on "Detonate," there's always an undercurrent of reassurance and trust.

Larocca: I really like the plucky production on this one. Also, shout-out to "I'm not trying to be rude / I'm just feeling confused," for being both an evergreen apology and a lyric that feels so specific to dealing with the complex emotions that come with living through a pandemic.

Ahlgrim: "7 Things" by Miley Cyrus and "7 Rings" by Ariana Grande had already built a respectable altar to the number seven, and now "7 Years" has come to complete the holy trinity.

I'm not entirely sure why this particular number has such a strong allure in the pop world, but "7 Years" is more than worthy to uphold this tradition. The beat that carries through the song is just the right combination of glitchy and head-bobby.

Larocca: I think Charli's using a vocoder at the start of "7 Years," letting her voice be echoed by a digitized version of it. It's a trendy way to start a song, but the moment the synths come in is the true star of the intro verses.

It's also almost reassuring to hear someone say that "seven years flew by" when every day now feels like a month and there's no clear end in sight to our current state. A gentle reminder that time is a construct, and this too shall pass.

Ahlgrim: I had also heard "Claws" before the album dropped, and it immediately became one of my favorite Charli songs ever. It's obviously weird and some of the production is a bit sharp, but it also maintains a poppy familiarity that makes it super accessible.

I also feel like Charli's personality really shines through in these lyrics. I'm quite partial to the Jeremih shout-out ("Birthday Sex" is still a bop).

I also enjoy the rapid-fire visuals in the second verse, including "juicy just like clementines" and "Gemini, switching sides." They're short but sweet, and paired with the repetitive hook, the overall listening experience is engaging and vivid without being too overwhelming.

Larocca: As someone who was born on May 30, I automatically dug this song the second Charli uttered the phrase, "Gemini, switching sides, yeah / That's so nice." Also as a Gemini, it's very refreshing to hear the phrase "I like, I like, I like everything about you" in almost the same breath as praise for an astrological sign that famously has the worst rep on the internet.

I'd also say that Charli is definitely cooling off as this tracklist progresses. Whereas the album started with just an assault of noise, "Claws" offers an intermittent reprieve from the maximalist production when she hones in on her vocals and elongates her vowels on the pre-choruses.

Ahlgrim: I've heard "Forever" a few times already since it was the album's lead single. I'm really into how Charli's vocals are gently manipulated. Her real-life fairy voice still shines through, but it's just wavy enough to make her sound like a lovestruck robot.

Larocca: When "Forever" starts, it seems like its main goal is to bombard you with the same harsh production that never let up on "Pink Diamond." But "Forever" softens periodically throughout, offering up a sweet sentiment when Charli croons "I will always love you" over dreamy, sparkling synths.

It's on "Forever" that it also becomes evident that this is, in fact, a quarantine album. While we know that Charli set out to make this album while self-isolating at home amid the coronavirus pandemic, "Pink Diamond" wasn't the kind of song built for sitting alone in your room and thinking about simpler times.

But on "Forever" that all changes when she drops wistful lines like "I know in the future, we will see each other" and "I'll love you forever, even when we're not together."

Ahlgrim: My immediate impression is that "Pink Diamond" sounds like a combination of early Grimes, Charli's mixtape "Pop 2," and the sound effects from a Mario Kart race on a futuristic, extra-dangerous Rainbow Road.

It's a lot, but definitely not in a bad way. I think it's a really fitting introduction to (what I can only assume will be) a wild sonic ride.

Larocca: The central reframe of "Pink Diamond" is "I just want to go real hard" and Charli surely does just that.

With production sharper than an actual diamond, Charli opens her album with just straight NOISE. While festival seasons and clubs are shut down indefinitely, this is the kind of song that makes you feel like you're tripping in the center of a dance floor: it's pulsing, pumping, and powerful.

Either that, or it's the kind of song Sofia Coppola would have had Emma Watson robbing celebrities to in "The Bling Ring." After all, "I just want to go real hard" is not a far cry from the iconic line, "I want to rob."