BeatRoute Magazine ON Edition - October 2019

BRCOVERSTORY
k CONTINUED FROM PG. 17
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to her gigs. “I was very much alone in
my musical journey when I was younger.
All my friends were at school while
I was going to raves—with my parents,
which wasn’t very cool but whatever,” she
laughs.
Fast forward to present day and Charli
XCX is firmly positioned as a multidisciplinary
artist on the cutting edge of
pop music, regularly creating some of
the most exciting, danceable music today.
She’s penned hits for Iggy Azalea,
will.i.am, Shawn Mendes and Camilla Cabello.
She’s made The F Word and Me, a
documentary about women in the music
industry; has released two experimental
pop mixtapes; and has launched her own
label, Vroom Vroom Recordings, to support
the sound she’s become known for.
Despite her extensive—and ever-evolving—résumé,
Aitchison is refreshingly
modest when it comes to her achievements,
and has never lost the quiet determination
that has taken her from Start
Hill all the way to the top of the pops.
“I love proving people wrong. It’s one
of my favourite hobbies,” she says. “I
think I’ve always been considered an underdog
in music and I think that’s probably
been emphasized more because I’m a
woman. But I think the way that I make
music, and how it sounds, has cast me as
different.”
After she began to carve out her place
in the music industry in the early 2010s,
signing to Asylum Records and clocking
credits with such established acts at Icona
Pop, Aitchison eventually found the
kind of artistic community she always
sought—her own Ed Banger-esque crew
to create with. Even as she matured into
a solo musician, her forward-thinking
sound has been fueled by her relationships
with other artists who shared her
vision. “Collaboration is exciting for me,”
she says. “I have an ego—of course, as artists,
we all do—but I also don’t need to
be front and centre in every
single thing I do.”
A staunch feminist, Aitchison
says she loves being able
to support and learn from
other women, and her musical
output is proof of that.
Her most recent album,
CHARLI XCX
Saturday, Oct. 5
The Commodore Ballroom
(Vancouver)
Monday, Oct. 14
Rebel (Toronto)
Tix: $35, ticketmaster.ca
Charli (released on September 13), boasts
an impressive roster of female powerhouses:
Lizzo, Sky Ferreira, and HAIM are
just some of the guest contributors.
Her most memorable working experience,
however, was creating the the
song “Gone” with Héloïse Letissier of
Christine and the Queens. “It was an
Collaboration is exciting
for me. I have an ego—of
course, as artists, we all
do—but I also don’t need
to be front and centre in
every single thing I do.”
amazing process from start to finish,” she
remembers. “Working with Chris was so
fluid and easy. She makes me feel so good
about myself, not only as an artist but
also as a person.”
In the video for the track,
Aitchison is a self-determined,
leather-clad siren
dancing on top of a car.
She’s an image of power,
control, and an unmistakable
cool—a swagger she
says was inspired by her
collaborator. “People think I’m extremely
confident—and I am, in some ways—but
I’m also insecure,” she says. “I generally
hate doing photo shoots and music videos,
but I had so much fun shooting the
‘Gone’ video with Chris. She’s so uniquely
her and confident in what she does that
it kind of rubs off on you.”
While she’s at the top of her game
delivering dancefloor-ready beats and
pushing the envelope of pop, experience
and maturity has also allowed Aitchison
to get in touch with a more vulnerable
side. Like everyone else, she battles
against imposter syndrome. “The life
and the world I live in is such a roller
coaster, and my emotional state is constantly
up and down,” she describes.
“Sometimes I feel like I’m on top of the
world and I absolutely love myself, and
other times I wake up in the morning
and I hate myself—I feel alone and isolated
and not good enough.”
The delicate dance between these
two extremes of emotion might just
be Aitchison’s special sauce, and she’s
laying it on thick as she moves to the
next stage of her already-accomplished
career. While many artists choose to
self-title their first album, naming her
third album after herself is an intentional
choice: Charli is both a coming-out
party and a rebirth; the product of a settled
and seasoned artist, who is reframing
what it means to be a pop star.
“I’m aware that every artist in the history
of artists has said that one album in
their career is the most personal they’ve
ever made. But I sincerely feel that this
is the case for me,” she finishes. “I’m not
afraid to talk about my emotions anymore.
It’s incredibly liberating.” ,
QUEEN OF COLLAB
Charli XCX is pop’s reigning Queen of the Collab.
Here are four artists featured on her latest album
who are all musical trailblazers in their own right.
TROYE SIVAN
Australian Troye Sivan
belongs to the Internet
generation, having come
of age behind a camera
as a popular YouTuber.
Since then, the LGBTQ+
spokesperson has grown
into a fully-fledged
popstar with newfound
poise. His sophomore
album, Bloom, is a record
that celebrates love, sex,
and being comfortable in
one’s skin.
YAEJI
Known for her celestial
take on electronic music,
Yaeji has quickly cemented
herself as one of the
most prominent DJs of
the underground scene.
Her signature track,
“Raingurl,” is a baseheavy
bop that combines
languages, cultures, and
genres to convey her
unique experience as a
Korean-American woman.
BIG FREEDIA
Big Freedia, the undisputed
“Queen of
Bounce,” single-handedly
brought New Orleans’
bounce music to an international
platform. Her
influence in the mainstream
is far-reaching,
having collaborated with
the likes of Beyoncé and
Drake. In spite of these
associations, Freedia
continues to shake,
twerk, and bounce on
her own, all the way to
the top.
LIZZO
In an industry that almost
demands a meticulously
crafted image, Lizzo has
never been afraid to be
anyone but herself. The
singer-rapper-flautist
made waves last April
with her major label
release, Cuz I Love You,
a genre-blending work
that eschews pop clichés
while promoting the importance
of self-love.
18 BEATROUTE OCTOBER 2019