WEBVTT 00:00.151 --> 00:02.172 [SPEAKER_00]: Hi everyone, welcome back to room for us. 00:02.492 --> 00:04.152 [SPEAKER_00]: A space where queer voices thrive. 00:04.612 --> 00:06.453 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host P and every single week. 00:06.513 --> 00:11.535 [SPEAKER_00]: I like to sit down, get vulnerable, and talk about all things queer with all of you. 00:12.175 --> 00:18.557 [SPEAKER_00]: And for this week's episode, I wanted to do a whole breakdown on the new album by Charlie XCX. 00:19.037 --> 00:21.658 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, Charlie is so loved by the queer community. 00:22.238 --> 00:24.299 [SPEAKER_00]: I have been a fan for a very, very long time. 00:24.979 --> 00:27.020 [SPEAKER_00]: Probably like early stages. 00:27.240 --> 00:28.920 [SPEAKER_00]: I knew about party for you. 00:28.980 --> 00:35.383 [SPEAKER_00]: Like that song that went like instantly viral I want to say in 2025, but it actually had come out in 2020. 00:36.163 --> 00:41.525 [SPEAKER_00]: And I liked a lot of Charlie Singles was a fan since like I love it. 00:41.925 --> 00:47.207 [SPEAKER_00]: That song that she was featured on with icon of pop and she had even mentioned how she like 00:47.947 --> 00:51.790 [SPEAKER_00]: Wrote that song kind of on a whim and didn't expect it to be this like crazy hit. 00:52.190 --> 01:04.377 [SPEAKER_00]: It was almost kind of like a song about nothing But that is something I really appreciated about Charlie's artistry and I know she is just so loved by the queer community for her cheeky like British humor. 01:04.397 --> 01:12.883 [SPEAKER_00]: She's very sarcastic, but she also just seems like a very very kind and down to earth person and someone who I would consider a true artist. 01:12.923 --> 01:13.123 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean 01:14.103 --> 01:29.947 [SPEAKER_00]: People might think Charlie Xiex had like overnight success, especially because she really gained that global phenomenon sensation after that super-club forward iconic album Brad, which was released. 01:30.087 --> 01:40.369 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say in 2024, I think that's when it was and it had like that iconic green album art with like the simple lettering of just Brad and you know fans were obsessed with it 01:43.970 --> 01:48.094 [SPEAKER_00]: But I want people to know that Charlie has been around forever. 01:48.255 --> 01:50.777 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say she's been making music maybe since 2008. 01:51.358 --> 01:53.640 [SPEAKER_00]: She is like the opposite of an overnight success. 01:53.840 --> 01:55.061 [SPEAKER_00]: She has been working. 01:55.161 --> 01:57.003 [SPEAKER_00]: She has been writing songs for artists. 01:57.584 --> 01:59.246 [SPEAKER_00]: She has been releasing music. 01:59.346 --> 02:00.407 [SPEAKER_00]: I remember she mentioned 02:01.147 --> 02:13.754 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it was in 2014, she released her first album True Romance, which only sold maybe 100 copies or something, and then she started to gain more fame when she was on features. 02:13.814 --> 02:25.401 [SPEAKER_00]: Like, I caught a pops, I love it, and then fancy with Iggy Azalea, and then she kind of just had a bit more of like a slow burn until she hit that like viral success with Brat, which is so well deserved. 02:26.201 --> 02:33.484 [SPEAKER_00]: But the reason why I want to get into music fashion film is because I cannot stop listening to that album. 02:33.704 --> 02:35.745 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm already such a big music lover. 02:36.426 --> 02:39.507 [SPEAKER_00]: I've loved music forever since I was a kid. 02:39.607 --> 02:46.110 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want to know all about the storytelling and also what that artist was going through at the time they decided to release a certain album. 02:46.430 --> 02:52.012 [SPEAKER_00]: That is why when I was 12, I became obsessed with blackout by Britney Spears. 02:52.613 --> 02:54.834 [SPEAKER_00]: I've been a fan of Britney Spears since I was a kid, but 02:55.654 --> 03:00.619 [SPEAKER_00]: It was also that album that really, really turned me into a super stand. 03:01.140 --> 03:04.703 [SPEAKER_00]: When Blackout came out in 2007, I still stand by. 03:04.723 --> 03:09.348 [SPEAKER_00]: The fact that that album is probably one of the best pop albums of all time. 03:09.849 --> 03:17.957 [SPEAKER_00]: It is so beautifully produced and Brittany is an executive producer on the album, and I think that's the only album she's ever executive produced. 03:18.517 --> 03:29.942 [SPEAKER_00]: The lyrics are very vulnerable, but at the same time they're fun in their catchy, but you can tell she's going through a very tumultuous period in her life, which she was, and she's talked about that so candidly. 03:30.643 --> 03:39.827 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think Blackout is one of those albums that has served as inspiration for many other artists who came after Brittany, and I think, 03:40.047 --> 04:02.812 [SPEAKER_00]: Charlie is one of those artists who took so much inspiration from pop artists like Brittany and that's why it's so cool about music how we have access to so many different sounds and you can experiment and then you can make something that is completely unforgettable in my opinion and I started Charlie's album not like going into it like too seriously, you know, I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just playing it and I was just 04:03.072 --> 04:06.894 [SPEAKER_00]: and I just kept thinking, what a good album from start to finish. 04:07.374 --> 04:10.756 [SPEAKER_00]: It's only about 30 minutes long, so it's not a very, very length. 04:10.776 --> 04:15.258 [SPEAKER_00]: The album, the songs are even short, but it kind of makes it that much more impactful. 04:15.338 --> 04:18.039 [SPEAKER_00]: So for this episode, I'm going to break it down. 04:18.079 --> 04:19.320 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to get into the lyrics. 04:19.780 --> 04:21.941 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to talk about what those songs really mean. 04:22.401 --> 04:26.486 [SPEAKER_00]: and a little bit more background on Charlie Xiacs if you don't know much about her. 04:27.147 --> 04:30.992 [SPEAKER_00]: So Charlie Xiacs was born Charlotte Emma H. Asin. 04:31.172 --> 04:31.853 [SPEAKER_00]: She's a Leo. 04:31.933 --> 04:34.135 [SPEAKER_00]: She was born on August 2nd, 1992. 04:34.656 --> 04:41.844 [SPEAKER_00]: She's a British singer and songwriter, and she's also a mixed heritage, which is pretty cool and she does touch upon this in the album. 04:42.625 --> 04:51.712 [SPEAKER_00]: She was born in Cambridge, England, to a Scottish father, and a Gujarapi Indian mother, and her mother's family had originated from Uganda. 04:51.972 --> 04:59.237 [SPEAKER_00]: So, music fashion film comes after the album, Weathering Heights, which she actually released earlier this year in 2026. 05:00.798 --> 05:06.761 [SPEAKER_00]: And Charlie had mentioned that after withering heights, she had actually wanted to take a slight break from music. 05:07.241 --> 05:08.842 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, she'd been doing it for so long. 05:08.942 --> 05:11.463 [SPEAKER_00]: She wasn't really feeling creatively inspired. 05:11.503 --> 05:13.664 [SPEAKER_00]: Like she figured she would go on a bit of a hiatus. 05:14.184 --> 05:18.006 [SPEAKER_00]: But out of the blue, music, fashion film just came to her. 05:18.186 --> 05:20.567 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is why it's such a quick release. 05:20.647 --> 05:23.228 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we're now in August of 2026. 05:23.308 --> 05:27.490 [SPEAKER_00]: And her last album had just come out earlier this year, which is so cool. 05:28.610 --> 05:34.775 [SPEAKER_00]: So when it comes to this album, specifically, I do find the lyrics and the production so brilliant. 05:35.676 --> 05:38.538 [SPEAKER_00]: The project touches on so many topics. 05:38.638 --> 05:47.045 [SPEAKER_00]: It explores the anxieties and realities of being a modern celebrity, artistic legacy, and the vulnerability of performing. 05:47.545 --> 05:53.249 [SPEAKER_00]: The lyrics are simple but at the same time very very meaningful and they leave a pretty lasting message. 05:53.529 --> 05:58.313 [SPEAKER_00]: It hits a bunch of different topics like I said I'm going to get into as we get into each track. 05:59.473 --> 06:01.775 [SPEAKER_00]: I am a big fan of the music production here. 06:02.055 --> 06:06.198 [SPEAKER_00]: Charlie's album was produced by AJ Cook and Finn Kean. 06:06.798 --> 06:08.600 [SPEAKER_00]: I think I have to look up the pronunciation of that name. 06:08.620 --> 06:11.742 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm so sorry alongside Charlie Xiex herself. 06:13.113 --> 06:18.656 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that this album definitely touches upon the artist as a character versus who the artist is as a human. 06:18.976 --> 06:29.321 [SPEAKER_00]: So it explores where the pop persona ends and the real person begins dealing with the identity hazards of leveraging one's entire self in public and also icons of excellence. 06:29.921 --> 06:43.825 [SPEAKER_00]: The album cover features a black and white portrait of John Kale, Mark Jacobs, and Martin Scorsesey, representing Titans who have shaped music, fashion, and film, reflecting themes of outsized legacy and art that outlives creators. 06:44.265 --> 06:46.726 [SPEAKER_00]: The musical style is definitely my favorite part of this album. 06:47.126 --> 06:59.050 [SPEAKER_00]: It features guitars and electric rock, where moving slightly away from pure club dance structures, and the record relies on distorted guitar riffs, power chords and electronic rock elements, 06:59.430 --> 07:06.715 [SPEAKER_00]: while also not being a rock album, which Charlie and constantly admits, you know, she's like, this is not meant to be a rock album. 07:07.216 --> 07:09.497 [SPEAKER_00]: It also has some conversational and sharp lyrics. 07:10.138 --> 07:18.684 [SPEAKER_00]: Features very self-aware humor, commentary on cancel culture, which you do see in spring summer 26, and also some confessional songwriting. 07:19.044 --> 07:25.809 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think music, fashion, and film are kind of the three main pillars of creativity, which I think is pretty clever. 07:26.069 --> 07:26.950 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's start with 07:28.911 --> 07:34.384 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we're on to the next I think we've done so it's dead So now we're making wrong 07:38.145 --> 07:42.186 [SPEAKER_00]: Rock music is a glitchy punk tinge type or pop lead single. 07:42.787 --> 07:55.011 [SPEAKER_00]: The song serves as a tongue-in-cheek and confessional pivot away from the 2024 club phenomenon Brett featuring the viral lyric, which I think caught the attention of some fans, but also Madonna and Courtney Love. 07:55.411 --> 07:58.812 [SPEAKER_00]: Charlie sings the dance floor is dead, so now we're making rock music. 07:59.532 --> 08:10.162 [SPEAKER_00]: She declares that this electronic club scene is played out and she's using the pivot to a crunchy guitar lay sound as a satirical yet weirdly earned a statement on just moving forward creatively. 08:10.342 --> 08:14.226 [SPEAKER_00]: The lyrics joke about head banging so hard that it hurts your neck. 08:14.406 --> 08:20.712 [SPEAKER_00]: Framing like that pursuit of how this can be a physical hazard, and I think these are things that Charlie has actually gone through when she was touring with Brett. 08:21.332 --> 08:23.892 [SPEAKER_00]: I think she actually suffered nerve damage in her neck. 08:24.253 --> 08:37.635 [SPEAKER_00]: So while fans have debated whether the track was an iconic troll for Brad, Charlie hasn't assisted that it just comes from a genuine place of hanging out and connecting with her friends in the studio and just having a good time, and that's honestly what she says in the lyrics. 08:37.995 --> 08:46.016 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not meant to be this like I-Roll joke, which people have kind of, you know, they think she's being a troll and she's like, really, I'm not. 08:46.056 --> 08:47.757 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm just having fun with my friends. 08:47.817 --> 08:49.577 [SPEAKER_00]: That's exactly what this album is all about. 08:49.897 --> 08:53.085 [SPEAKER_00]: Next, we get into my favorite track on the album, which is SS26. 09:02.311 --> 09:12.036 [SPEAKER_01]: As says 26 stands for the fashion industry terms, spring summer 2026. 09:12.776 --> 09:21.000 [SPEAKER_00]: This track uses the fashion calendar as a metaphor for societal doom, consumerism, and the emptiness of modern celebrity culture. 09:21.761 --> 09:30.065 [SPEAKER_00]: Production-wise, I would say this is like an alt rock ballad featuring chill drums disrupted by distorted guitars and Charlie signature tune vocals. 09:30.425 --> 09:37.573 [SPEAKER_00]: I also think a touch is upon how pop stars are meant to be these products, and they're also meant to be perfect. 09:38.253 --> 09:47.864 [SPEAKER_00]: Lerically, Charlie talks about using her politics as a press strategy, noting that her part Indian heritage could give me quite the USP, aka unique selling point. 09:48.224 --> 09:50.647 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think that kind of goes into show how 09:51.327 --> 09:55.331 [SPEAKER_00]: You know, when you are a pop singer, it is also a lot about the marketing, right? 09:55.371 --> 10:00.235 [SPEAKER_00]: So, is it performative, you know, like use your politics and your stance as a marketing strategy? 10:00.795 --> 10:01.856 [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, you're half Indian. 10:02.316 --> 10:08.582 [SPEAKER_00]: What a cool USP, like you should utilize that to gain more followers, gain more traction, that's sort of thing. 10:09.062 --> 10:11.804 [SPEAKER_00]: And I feel like Charlie has noted many times. 10:11.864 --> 10:17.029 [SPEAKER_00]: She, one, doesn't speak about her heritage too much, because nobody's really ever asked her. 10:17.389 --> 10:17.909 [SPEAKER_00]: But, too, 10:18.990 --> 10:22.333 [SPEAKER_00]: growing up as a mixed child, she kind of felt that disconnect. 10:22.393 --> 10:25.635 [SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes she didn't feel Indian and sometimes she didn't feel Scottish enough. 10:26.016 --> 10:28.598 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's not something she wants to confidently broadcast. 10:29.238 --> 10:32.941 [SPEAKER_00]: Being a mixed person saying, you know, I'm half Indian and I want to put this in my music. 10:33.041 --> 10:33.842 [SPEAKER_00]: Card declined. 10:33.922 --> 10:38.125 [SPEAKER_00]: This one's a pretty hard-hitting song, yet it has very simple lyrics. 10:46.805 --> 10:59.950 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a sharp critique of modern materialism and consumerism and explores how people use fashion, luxury items and shopping to construct a fake persona or backstory to fit a temporary aesthetic. 11:00.270 --> 11:04.872 [SPEAKER_00]: And, you know, it ends abruptly with that harsh reality of your card getting declined. 11:04.912 --> 11:08.214 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like, I'll buy a handbag, I'll buy a smile. 11:08.234 --> 11:13.856 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to buy all these things that are not authentically me, buy your cards getting declined. 11:13.977 --> 11:17.198 [SPEAKER_00]: Like that kind of escapism is not always going to work. 11:17.418 --> 11:18.839 [SPEAKER_00]: The next we get into camera. 11:27.514 --> 11:39.099 [SPEAKER_00]: This explores the psychological weight of fame, the anxieties of aging in the public eye, as a woman turning 34, and also like the intoxicating but dangerous thrill of being watched. 11:39.399 --> 11:40.399 [SPEAKER_00]: Next, we get into 2007. 11:46.242 --> 12:12.885 [SPEAKER_00]: The song uses the year as an astrologic symbol for a low-fi bedroom pop culture, webcam culture, and the magic of modern micro-stardom, Charlie actually set in an interview with BBC Radio that this song is about making TikToks, you know, like now a lot of people who want to be creatives or they want to be artists, they have access to their laptops and it 12:13.525 --> 12:23.295 [SPEAKER_00]: social media where they can make their music go online and share their art and now there is the potential of gaining fame from your bedroom. 12:23.435 --> 12:26.758 [SPEAKER_00]: So like that saying, you know, pop star in my bedroom. 12:27.419 --> 12:31.343 [SPEAKER_00]: And she mentioned that I can take you to heaven like it's 2007. 12:31.643 --> 12:36.749 [SPEAKER_00]: That's saying of 2007 is specific because it rhymes with heaven, whereas Charlie admits, 12:37.389 --> 12:45.636 [SPEAKER_00]: For her, it's really 2008, is when she started to become a little bit more of a prominent name, but you can't use 2008 because it doesn't rhyme. 12:46.256 --> 12:50.740 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm afraid, I'm afraid is a really, really raw, invulnerable track. 13:05.375 --> 13:16.801 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm afraid explores the raw vulnerability and panic, a finding a deep, genuine love that she feels terrified of losing because Charlie has admitted she's naturally an avoiding. 13:17.061 --> 13:23.704 [SPEAKER_00]: It's inspired by her relationship with George Daniel, who's the drummer of the Rock Band 1975, and he's also a producer. 13:23.844 --> 13:31.268 [SPEAKER_00]: The track confronts her struggles with commitment and the contrast between her public persona and her own personal insecurities. 13:31.548 --> 13:37.653 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that's like a classic way and a void and can feel, you know, like you're a void and because you don't want to get hurt. 13:37.813 --> 13:39.234 [SPEAKER_00]: So you tend to push people away. 13:39.954 --> 13:41.916 [SPEAKER_00]: And she's found herself in this beautiful marriage. 13:41.936 --> 13:43.477 [SPEAKER_00]: Like she's committed to her husband. 13:43.517 --> 13:44.397 [SPEAKER_00]: She loves him so much. 13:44.437 --> 13:45.778 [SPEAKER_00]: He's someone who gets her so much. 13:46.419 --> 13:47.259 [SPEAKER_00]: She's worried. 13:47.920 --> 13:52.723 [SPEAKER_00]: All these elements of her that she is so insecure about is going to push him away. 13:52.763 --> 13:56.666 [SPEAKER_00]: Like that's kind of the way I saw it and maybe her natural reaction 14:00.550 --> 14:01.092 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh my gosh. 14:01.112 --> 14:02.740 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, it's simple. 14:03.081 --> 14:04.487 [SPEAKER_00]: It's literally the title of the track. 14:12.254 --> 14:20.182 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a minimalist meditation on tension release in the exact split second, where a piece of music or feeling clicks into place. 14:20.822 --> 14:25.047 [SPEAKER_00]: And I pulled this quote from an article that I read on BBC. 14:25.327 --> 14:30.532 [SPEAKER_00]: The seventh song, yeah, is a textbook example of tension and release and pop music. 14:30.892 --> 14:34.456 [SPEAKER_00]: That strips the idea down to its most elemental form. 14:35.016 --> 14:42.862 [SPEAKER_00]: For the first 30 seconds, Charlie simply repeats the phrase, I don't want to, over and over while a guitar chugs in the background. 14:43.442 --> 14:50.027 [SPEAKER_00]: Then, just when you're about to hit the off switch, she declares, wait, now I want to feel it, and the music explodes into life. 14:50.707 --> 14:58.273 [SPEAKER_00]: It's so stupid and basic, and get it scratches, a tried and tested musical itch with such precision, you have to admire its audacity. 14:59.073 --> 15:00.995 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, is the most demo-like song. 15:01.695 --> 15:07.277 [SPEAKER_00]: on a 29 minute album that occasionally feels undercooked, but the brevity was quite deliberate. 15:07.878 --> 15:09.298 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is a quote from Charlie. 15:09.919 --> 15:14.901 [SPEAKER_00]: I wasn't like, oh, I must make an album with tiny songs, Charlie told radio host Nick Grimshaw. 15:15.141 --> 15:17.122 [SPEAKER_00]: That was just the way that the songs came out. 15:17.262 --> 15:20.783 [SPEAKER_00]: It was just a choice that felt right for the music that we were making. 15:21.144 --> 15:21.844 [SPEAKER_00]: Wink, Wink! 15:29.092 --> 15:37.739 [SPEAKER_00]: I actually have to say, like this might be the song of summer, it's so fun, it's flirty, like once you get to the chorus, you can't help but just dance, it's really, really good. 15:38.179 --> 15:48.027 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember my first heard wink wink, I wasn't 100% sure how I felt about like that spoken word dialogue and I know Charlie is very famous for that and she uses it quite often. 15:48.947 --> 15:55.408 [SPEAKER_00]: It just wasn't catching for me until I heard the chorus, and I was like, okay, this might be one of my favorite songs off the album. 15:55.828 --> 16:02.469 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a sarcastic and tongue-in-cheek track about your perception, whether it's from the public or from your own personal relationships. 16:02.750 --> 16:10.271 [SPEAKER_00]: As humans, we are constantly changing, we're definitely not one-dimensional, and Charlie mentions this is actually kind of a song for her exes. 16:10.511 --> 16:16.252 [SPEAKER_00]: It's how they expected her to maybe be a certain way, or maybe almost like this good girl image when really deep down. 16:17.112 --> 16:22.975 [SPEAKER_00]: she just wants to be herself, she's a curious person, she's maybe loud, she's very like Leo, right? 16:23.075 --> 16:29.899 [SPEAKER_00]: And obviously, I don't know about her past, but she kind of declares like maybe people from her past didn't really understand her. 16:30.480 --> 16:35.803 [SPEAKER_00]: And then for the song, she teases in the lyrics, I'm not a bad girl anymore, wink, wink, wink, wink, wink. 16:36.843 --> 16:54.299 [SPEAKER_00]: And I wonder if it's kind of to say like, you know, just because I'm married now, and like maybe you'll expect, I'm this good girl, so she's kind of saying it in the song like I'm not a bad girl anymore, but then suddenly the wink wink obviously means she's being sarcastic, she's joking like she's remained. 16:55.079 --> 17:03.342 [SPEAKER_00]: Completely the same, even though you're willing to grow, those parts of you just aren't going to change the moment you, you know, maybe get married or you settle down. 17:04.062 --> 17:12.505 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel like that's such a classic thing where people maybe think you're going to change because you settle down in your married, but the person you are like deep down inside, that's not going to change. 17:12.605 --> 17:13.606 [SPEAKER_00]: You're always going to be you. 17:14.526 --> 17:21.210 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think this is also in a way like that song is a love letter to her partner and husband, George Daniel. 17:21.410 --> 17:30.396 [SPEAKER_00]: She has said, like, in many interviews, that being with George, he's someone who loves Charlie for Charlie and accepts Charlie for Charlie, which I think is really beautiful. 17:30.616 --> 17:31.277 [SPEAKER_00]: Persona. 17:40.390 --> 17:46.774 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a kind of like a tongue-in-cheek track about public perception, internet, personal growth. 17:47.735 --> 17:55.739 [SPEAKER_00]: The lyrics describe maybe dealing with a frustrating friend who has allowed ego, but at the same time, Charlie has noted that this is also about herself. 17:56.499 --> 18:00.282 [SPEAKER_00]: It's serving as a mirror for her own insecurities and dual identities. 18:01.441 --> 18:08.106 [SPEAKER_00]: and maybe like admitting at times as an artist, she can have like these narcissistic tendencies or come off very selfish. 18:08.767 --> 18:10.088 [SPEAKER_00]: Magic Metal Montana. 18:23.290 --> 18:25.971 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a really, really good track and it's kind of emotional. 18:26.211 --> 18:33.454 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's a beautiful song for like just the people you love in your life and I know specifically Charlie and she says it's in the lyrics. 18:33.754 --> 18:44.598 [SPEAKER_00]: She is kind of sending this like love letter to her longtime producer, collaborator and best friend AJ Cook, just this like platonic love for this person who's been in her life for so long. 18:45.159 --> 18:47.960 [SPEAKER_00]: It blends the surreal quirky descriptors with blunt 18:48.720 --> 19:06.688 [SPEAKER_00]: Admissions about their deep creative and personal bond and really how like she couldn't be doing this album without him and Lastly this song is like I think the most impactful one and I love the backstory behind it and it features Charlie's only feature on the album David Cronenberg 19:13.691 --> 19:19.316 [SPEAKER_01]: Then everyone in the room, but no then nothing's gonna pass forever. 19:19.897 --> 19:25.682 [SPEAKER_00]: No one lasts forever, kind of touches on our own ego and the type of mark that we want to leave in the world. 19:25.942 --> 19:34.089 [SPEAKER_00]: In the song, Charlie speaks about being in Paris and having conversations with this French girl in her apartment, all the deep convoys about philosophy and... 19:34.910 --> 19:39.757 [SPEAKER_00]: reality and how that moment was so beautiful but it was also just a moment. 19:40.478 --> 19:41.619 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not going to last forever. 19:41.679 --> 19:50.531 [SPEAKER_00]: These beautiful moments pass but that's a part of life and it's like these memories we hold and like the people who are in our life and who we meet along the way. 19:50.871 --> 19:54.696 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe a moment like that is never going to happen again, but it doesn't leave your memory. 19:54.957 --> 20:06.673 [SPEAKER_00]: As this is the closing track, the song contrasts the high energy chaos of celebrity life with the comforting realization that neither success, public scrutiny or life itself is permanent. 20:07.794 --> 20:32.861 [SPEAKER_00]: And as mentioned, David Cronenberg comes at the end of this track, and it's like this spoken word monologue sampling a private conversation that Charlie and David had in Toronto, David talks about how he had a real life held scare and he had collapsed on a sidewalk and Charlie had asked if he thought about his career or art or you know even like legacy in that moment. 20:33.341 --> 20:35.462 [SPEAKER_00]: He told her that he only thought about the people. 20:36.062 --> 20:49.036 [SPEAKER_00]: He shared that oblivion as freedom and that no legacy lasts forever and I think it's a really beautiful testament to how we're so caught up in like what kind of mark do we want to leave in the world? 20:49.116 --> 20:54.642 [SPEAKER_00]: Like we're so focused on our work and what people think of us and how we want to be remembered and 20:55.242 --> 21:23.113 [SPEAKER_00]: While those are all beautiful things and while you know what in some cases that could be true like I think there are people who really leave a legacy after they pass away And they will be remembered for that, but how are you gonna like who or who are you gonna think about in those moments and I do think it comes down to the people in your life and the beautiful memories you've made along the way and how those people make you feel and that is where the album ends and 21:24.678 --> 21:27.080 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, it's a quick album, 30 minutes. 21:27.661 --> 21:32.905 [SPEAKER_00]: So it's something where you can go back to multiple times and you might be picking apart new meanings. 21:33.385 --> 21:38.910 [SPEAKER_00]: Things that matter to you about the tracks and why certain tracks matter so much. 21:39.670 --> 21:42.392 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it makes a lot of sense for where Charlie's at and life right now. 21:42.892 --> 21:44.273 [SPEAKER_00]: I love the direction it went in. 21:44.593 --> 21:46.454 [SPEAKER_00]: I think the album is also iconic. 21:46.474 --> 21:51.117 [SPEAKER_00]: She had mentioned how to get these three people in a room together. 21:51.537 --> 22:08.547 [SPEAKER_00]: That her friend, Aiden's Amiri, shot, was actually a very difficult thing to do because when you want to get it on vinyl, there's all these like deadlines to make sure, you know, you submit everything on time and it had come down to the wire that they got all three together in a room to get this photo done. 22:09.047 --> 22:12.390 [SPEAKER_00]: and like packaged up for the vinyl, processing and everything. 22:13.291 --> 22:25.983 [SPEAKER_00]: I just think it's brilliant, and Charlie's been known to not always have herself on an album cover, like she has had it in the past, but I think lately, she hasn't been doing that with music fashion film, with Brad, with Whithering Heights. 22:26.623 --> 22:27.984 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it just goes to show that. 22:29.125 --> 22:32.926 [SPEAKER_00]: The artist doesn't always have to be like this front-and-center. 22:33.126 --> 22:40.548 [SPEAKER_00]: I think she's like really showcasing her inspirations and people who mean a lot to her and also who's maybe inspired her along the way. 22:40.588 --> 22:48.550 [SPEAKER_00]: That's kind of the vibe I get from the cover and I want to listen to it again and I think at each time I do listen to it. 22:48.590 --> 22:49.270 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna pick up 22:50.170 --> 22:53.891 [SPEAKER_00]: different feelings off of that album. 22:54.331 --> 23:04.754 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's the beautiful thing about music is you can be going through something in your life and in a way we can all find ways to relate to it. 23:05.194 --> 23:06.554 [SPEAKER_00]: I think nothing lasts forever. 23:07.175 --> 23:12.296 [SPEAKER_00]: Really, really hit me, especially going through some feelings where there was a recent loss. 23:12.872 --> 23:16.175 [SPEAKER_00]: of someone I had known and cared about so much. 23:16.195 --> 23:23.320 [SPEAKER_00]: I know how he made people feel and like the lasting impression he left on people who loved him so much. 23:23.601 --> 23:24.761 [SPEAKER_00]: He was such a caring person. 23:25.542 --> 23:28.384 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just a reminder, you know, enjoy life. 23:28.644 --> 23:35.550 [SPEAKER_00]: Enjoy your passions, like focus on the things you wanna do, don't worry so much about everything and what people think. 23:35.950 --> 23:38.152 [SPEAKER_00]: Because at the end of the day, nothing lasts forever. 23:38.292 --> 23:40.414 [SPEAKER_00]: All we have is ourselves and our memories. 23:41.174 --> 23:55.622 [SPEAKER_00]: and try to live the most organic like fulfilling life for you, not to try to fulfill it for like other people or what you think it should look like, but do it for you and your joys and what makes you happy. 23:56.062 --> 23:59.424 [SPEAKER_00]: So I would rate this album a solid nine. 23:59.705 --> 23:59.965 [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, 24:01.155 --> 24:02.316 [SPEAKER_00]: It's really, really good. 24:02.756 --> 24:05.537 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say I might even like it more than Brad. 24:05.618 --> 24:07.278 [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember really, really liking Brad. 24:07.318 --> 24:08.979 [SPEAKER_00]: Like that got me on the Charlie train. 24:09.019 --> 24:11.741 [SPEAKER_00]: And I went to see the moment, loved the moment. 24:11.961 --> 24:15.743 [SPEAKER_00]: I love that kind of like mockumentary comedy style. 24:16.343 --> 24:18.264 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is something I appreciate about Charlie. 24:18.305 --> 24:22.207 [SPEAKER_00]: I think she can really see she has this like British type of humor, which is very sarcastic. 24:22.907 --> 24:31.115 [SPEAKER_00]: But, yeah, music fashion film is very meaningful, and I think it was a beautifully written and produced album. 24:31.656 --> 24:41.465 [SPEAKER_00]: And there's ways where maybe someone could feel like it feels unfinished, but that's also kind of the fun part about it, like with the guitar and like the distorted sounds and like, 24:42.686 --> 24:44.727 [SPEAKER_00]: how it's not meant to be a rock album. 24:44.888 --> 24:45.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Like that's not what it is. 24:45.948 --> 24:52.292 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's just meant to be an album where she's having fun and you can really sense that experimentation in the sounds. 24:52.973 --> 24:55.754 [SPEAKER_00]: And yeah, so all in nine out of ten, I really liked it. 24:56.195 --> 25:01.498 [SPEAKER_00]: If you've listened to music fashion film by Charlie Xiax, please let me know and let me know what you think. 25:02.098 --> 25:04.119 [SPEAKER_00]: And if there's any other albums you want me to... 25:05.140 --> 25:12.843 [SPEAKER_00]: talk about or like go through and go through like track by track and kind of break it down of like what the meanings are and the symbolism. 25:13.344 --> 25:14.584 [SPEAKER_00]: I would happily do that. 25:14.724 --> 25:17.465 [SPEAKER_00]: I feel that's kind of what this podcast is about too. 25:17.565 --> 25:28.210 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to bring light to even albums from the past or one of my favorite date night things to do is still like sometimes sit down with crystal and we listen to all these tracks back to back. 25:28.910 --> 25:35.275 [SPEAKER_00]: And we kind of like discuss the meanings of the track and it kind of like brings up some love for like old albums, which I really appreciate. 25:35.915 --> 25:42.660 [SPEAKER_00]: So yeah, with that I'm gonna wrap up the episode here, but I really really hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you all next week.