Julian Casablancas on working with Charli XCX: “Fame has never hit someone at a better time”
Julian Casablancas has opened up on working with Charli XCX for her ‘Brat’ album remix.
Charli confirmed The Strokes frontman would be amongst the 18 features on her ‘Brat’ remix album, and he eventually appeared on the song ‘Mean girls’.
Now, Casablancas has spoken to Jimmy Fallon about the collaboration, saying: “That was very serendipitous. I actually can’t believe how fast it happened, I feel like it was a few weeks ago that she asked me, and I was in LA. I sang, I spent a day doing stuff.”
When Fallon asked Casablancas whether he had heard of Charli XCX’s previous praise of him, he replied that “someone had sent me something”, adding: “Just meeting her this time, she was so cool.
“I feel like fame has never hit someone at a better time, ’cause she’s been around a long time,” he continued. “She’s aware of the moment, this huge social moment, but also not taking herself too seriously, she handles it well, but also is humble… that’s why I wanted to do it. She was so cool”.
Previously, Charli XCX spoke about her decision to feature Casablancas on the ‘Brat’ remix album, telling Zane Lowe that both albums were “very much rooted within club culture”.
“It was fun on the remix album to bring all of these people in, some of whom aren’t particularly connected to the club world when you would think about it on the surface, but actually, Julian Casablancas, for example,” she said.
She continued: “When I think about Julian, it’s like, ‘Okay, has this sort of history with Daft Punk and also-‘,” with Lowe adding: “And The Strokes are a dance [band].”
“Yeah, exactly,” she continued. “You talk about New York downtown, people were partying then and really in a hardcore way, and so I think he of all people understands how to capture that kind of an energy in a room and on the songs. It was definitely crazy pulling that all together.”
NME reviewed the ‘Brat’ remix album, hailing it five stars and saying: “‘Brat’ could have easily been a stationary, isolated moment and remembered for being a neon green meme and a Kamala Harris campaign buzzword – but Charli XCX is too good to remain frozen in time, and she consistently proves so.
“Although, to her, her career “feels small in the existential scheme of it all”, as she laments in ‘I Think About It All The Time’, the bottom line is that, with her sparkling CV, she’s more than earned the high praise this album and the world around it have brought her.”
In other news, Julian Casablancas has spoken about why he “kind of stepped away a little bit” from his “very cool day job” in The Strokes.
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Alex Rigotti
NME
