Charli XCX reflects on 10 years of ‘True Romance’: “This album was the beginning of everything for me”
Charli XCX has marked the 10th anniversary of her debut studio album, ‘True Romance’, by sharing a touching message on social media.
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Released on April 12, 2013, the record includes the singles ‘Stay Away’, ‘Nuclear Seasons’ and ‘You’re The One’. It features production work by Ariel Rechtshaid, Patrik Berger and more.
Taking to social media yesterday – exactly a decade on from the LP’s arrival – Charli posted a statement in which she reflected on the making of ‘True Romance’, and took stock of how she’s grown as an artist since it came out.
“Wow. 10 years of true romance. This album – that initially not many people heard but quite a few people grew to adore – was the beginning of everything for me,” the pop star began.
“The beginning of discovering myself as a person – my voice, my confidence, my style, how big I could make my hair, how I moved on stage… and the beginning of compiling all of those elements into myself as an artist.
“I was just a myspace kid inspired by teen movies, party photos and what felt like a very far away and impenetrable club scene. I just wanted to escape, figure out what made me tick and meet people who understood the things that I adored.”
Charli went on to recall how she then went to Los Angeles to meet “the people who helped me write the first songs I was truly proud of; the songs that made up this album”.
She gave shout-outs to Rechtshaid, Berger and Justin Raisen, the latter of whom is credited as a co-writer on ‘Nuclear Seasons’. The singer explained how all the collaborators on the album “helped me on the path of getting more comfortable and confident (still working on it – always will be)”.
“Oh also thank you [Blood Pop] for not suing me for stealing the beat for ‘Grins’ and putting my version on SoundCloud,” Charli said. “I didn’t really know how the logistics worked at that point, but I’m glad u let me use the beat for like zero £ – it’s still to this day one of my favorite songs I’ve made.”
Charli remembered how ‘I Love It’ – her 2012 collaboration with Icona Pop, which landed at Number One in the UK – almost made it onto ‘True Romance’ “as my own song, with me as the solo artist” at one point.
“Perhaps if it had loads more people would have known about TR – and about me,” she wrote.
“Perhaps literally everything would have been different. I think about that sometimes.. but I’m happy it played out like this because really I needed time to evolve and learn and hone.”
She concluded: ‘So, happy true romance day, thank you to everyone who’s been here from the beginning and I hope you enjoy the original angel reissue of the vinyl available at the link in my bio in 30 mins (lol – sorry) x.”
‘True Romance’ peaked at only Number 85 on the UK Albums Chart, per Official Charts. Its 2015 follow-up, ‘Sucker’, peaked at Number 15. Charli earned her first UK Number One album last year with her fifth studio effort, ‘Crash’.
Back in February, Charli XCX revealed that she had signed a new record contract. She later denied rumours that she had joined Dirty Hit, which is home to The 1975, Rina Sawayama and No Rome – all of whom the pop artist has collaborated.
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Tom Skinner
NME
