Charli XCX: New Album Will Be "Really Groundbreaking For Pop Music"

Charli XCX has big plans for 2016 and it starts with her brand new album, which she tells us will be "really groundbreaking for pop music."

Talking to her on the phone literally hours before she picked up the NME Award for Best British Solo Artist last week (beating Adele, Noel Gallagher, Ed Sheeran, Florence Welch and Skepta!), we find out what the 'Fancy' hit maker has been getting up to with Pepsi MAX Cherry, her latest single with Mr Oizo, and try to prise as much info about the follow up to Sucker as we can from her...

Charli: "I just described how I felt the drink tasted, which was like roaring through a cherry ice glacier with diamond eyes and lips, so very dramatic... And this amazing grafiti artist Insa created an art installation which moves when you look at it through an app, so it's all very hyper-real and he really brought my vision to life. Today we were just doing a photoshoot for the installation which I can't wait for everybody to see."

...and how did it turn out?

"It's great, it's exactly what my interpretation was, it's very bold and graphic and I like it a lot."

We're loving your team-up with Mr Oizo on 'Hand In The Fire' - will that be a part of your new album?

"That's a one-off for his EP. I've been a fan of him since I was like 14 years old and that whole record label, Ed Banger, if I'd have known when I was 14 that I was gonna work with them I probably would have passed out. I was really super into their music and they really inspired me to make my own music. So it was really great to work with him and his sounds are so weird and so creepy, I think it's really cool to pair that with the pop vocal that I did. The video's cool too, it's really funny. I really like the girl Flat Eric that was cool."

Us too! Did you get your own Flat Eric puppet?

"No but i'm gonna ask - that's a good idea!"

So you tweeted a few weeks back you were going to finish your album that week. Did you?

"Yeah it's done but there's still a lot of stages to go, you know mixing and all of that, but it's written and that's great and I think it's the best thing I've done and I think it's going to be really groundbreaking for pop music."

In what respect? Does pop music need a shake up do you think?

"I think it always needs a shake up and I think multiple artists do that but I want to push it...I've been collaborating with people from PC music so that's been very inspiring for me - the way they think about music and the way that they create music and transferring that into like a more pop realm is something that is cool and yeah, it's next level!

Do you have a name for it yet?

"Nope!"

We saw your performance in New York of 'Too Many Omens'. That had quite an experimental production, is that what we can expect from the album?

"So that's not actually on my record, I was performing at MOMA with my friend Andrew Wyatt and he wrote all of the songs that numerous girls came and sang throughout the day. It was a performance art piece based on the Vivienne girls so that's not actually from my record, that was a song that he wrote so yeah that's him, that's his project."

Who/what would you say your main muse has been for the new album?

"Just mainly the people I've been collaborating with ...and partying! It's been inspired by partying but I'm not really saying too much about it right now because I just want it to talk for itself. And it will."

Strong statement! Talking of strong statements, you were at the Yeezy Season 3 launch, what was your experience of the night?

"It was really cool, it was cool to listen to that record in such a huge space, and...what did I do that night? I actually went to another show afterwards and I mean the whole of New York Fashion Week was just a kind of a party which was great so yeah, party on!"

Finally, the BRITs are coming up - who, in your professional opinion, should talk home the Best Female Solo Artist award?

"Really strong category, I mean I don't know like, I really dont know! I couldnt even call it, they all had great records. I think it would be really great to honour Amy but I don't know, I have no idea, really strong category in my professional opinion!"

To view the Pepsi MAX Cherry art installment and the GIF-iti experience, a free to attend live event will be taking place at Ely’s Yard, The Old Truman Brewery in London on Saturday 27th February from 5.30pm- 10.30pm.