37 Surprising Facts About Charli XCX’s CRASH

Charli XCX’s fifth studio album CRASH just debuted at #1 in the UK, Scotland, Ireland, and Australia- the first of the singer’s albums to ever do so- and it’s not hard to see why. Not only does the project stand alone as a pristine pop album, but it makes clever commentary on what it’s like to be a “Main Pop Girl” on a major label. The tunes on CRASH don’t just reference the trends and tropes of best-selling pop music products- they completely embody them, erasing the line between satire and assimilation. I have been completely obsessed with this album, pouring over every interview, podcast, and social media post so you don’t have to. (But you totally should anyway.) Here are 37 of the most fascinating facts I learned about CRASH: 

ON THE THEMES OF THE ALBUM: 

1. This album was originally titled Sorry If I Hurt You. Charli explains why she changed the title in an interview with Apple Music. “One day, I was driving in my car and “CRASH” just came to me. It made sense with the constant car references in my work—and I like the onomatopoeia, I like how it references [2014 single] “Boom Clap” and I like how it feels much more punchy and in-your-face.”
2. The title CRASH also refers to Charli’s obsession with cars. In an interview with NPR, she states, “To be honest, I was into a lot of self referencing for this album, which was part of the reason why I called it CRASH. I’ve had so much constant narrative around cars in my lyrics and videos.” Charli has referenced automobiles in a number of songs, including “Vroom Vroom,” “White Mercedes,” “Porsche,” “Backseat,” and “I Love It.”
3. Charli cites Janet Jackson as a major inspiration for the 80s-leaning sound of CRASH. In her talk with Rolling Stone, she lists Jackson’s album “Control,” 80s band Cameo, the movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Madonna, Elvira, and Pat Benatar as reference points. 
4. CRASH is Charli’s final album in her five-album contract with Atlantic Records. She used the milestone as a chance to cosplay as a “main pop girl” – something which her label had been begging her to do all along.  “I’ve been signed to a major label since I was 16 years old. Throughout that time, I’ve never really utilized the major label in the way that I am supposed to. With this final album, I wanted to play into this idea of, ‘What if I played the game?’ What if I took pitch songs? What if I worked with an A&R for the first time in 10 years? What if I started using interpolations in a few of the songs? That’s the world.” (NPR)
5. Many fans were disappointed that Charli seemingly abandoned her hyperpop sound and opted to “sell out.” Charli commented, “Oh, I love selling out. Yeah, I don’t care, because the thing is I actually find it fun and interesting. Pop is supposed to be a fantasy, right? I feel that sometimes people are so caught up in this idea of being real and authentic, particularly now. I feel like now it’s almost a necessity for the validity of an artist for them to be considered real or genuine or down to earth. I feel comfortable to toy with the idea of being the complete opposite because I know that I have the receipts.” (NPR) 
6. Fans and critics have noted parallels between the themes of CRASH and the 1996 David Cronenberg film by the same name. Charli states, “For this album, I was exploring the idea of what the most sexualized, heightened, vampiric version of myself could be. I think that does relate back to Cronenberg’s Crash because that movie is about these people who want and feed off their favorite thing and will go to any length to feel this sexuality and connection.” (NPR)

ON THE SONGS: 

7. In the title track “Crash,” eagle-eyed fans noticed a familiar melody paired with the lyrics “Wheels up on the curbside, put it in speed drive.” The tune is borrowed from “Queen Lizzy,” an unreleased track from Charli’s scrapped third album. (Genius)
8. Charli describes track #3 “Good Ones” as being “about running away from people who are good for you and running towards the people who are dangerous.” (Eazy FM 105.5) She has touched on this topic in a number of her songs, including “detonate,” “enemy,” “White Mercedes,” “Blame It On Your Love,” “Move Me,” and “No Angel.” 
9. Charli told Vulture that track #4 “Constant Repeat” is one of the songs she is most proud of in her career. “I feel like it is really the perfect marriage between my more experimental instincts and very classic pop.”
10. Track #5 “Beg For You” interpolates Swedish singer September’s 2006 single “Cry for You.” The original song was released internationally in 2007 and saw a revival when it was memed on TikTok back in 2018. 
11. “Beg For You” is Charli’s first collaboration with fellow British pop star Rina Sawayama. The two had previously written a track for Charli’s fourth studio album, but scrapped it in favor of a more pop-leaning collaboration. (Entertainment Weekly)
12. The CRASH vinyl features lyrics to an additional verse in “Beg For You” which did not make it into the recording. “I savour every moment. I know it’ll only be a couple days, ah ah. Baby it’s your atonement. To love me up until the heaven’s gate, ah ah.” (Genius)
13. Track #9 “Every Rule” is one of the oldest songs on CRASH, having been written before Charli’s 2021 album How I’m Feeling Now with A.G. Cook. “It’s the true story of me meeting my previous partner, and both of us being in relationships but knowing that we were meant to be together. I think that that’s a story that a lot of my friends have also experienced—and obviously there’s a lot of controversy that comes with that circumstance. People are afraid to talk about it. People feel shame. But it’s also, it’s really real.” (Apple Music)
14. “Every Rule” features guest vocals from a surprising source: “A. G. was living in a place with a studio in his garage. There was a tree outside that was always covered in crickets. You can hear the crickets in the recording, which I think is really sweet and charming.” (Apple Music) 
15. Charli was intentional about putting track #10 “Yuck” directly after “Every Rule.” “I like the drastic gear change here. I like that it makes you laugh. I like those jarring moments on albums and in live shows where you’re going from the most intimate, quiet song to the most hilarious or poptastic. That was the reasoning behind putting “Every Rule” and “Yuck” back to back.” (Apple Music) 
16. Closing track “Twice” is about the end of the world. “This is a very important song to me because I’ve never written a song about the end of the world. I was kind of just thinking about how it would feel if/when the world ends, who I would think about, who I would miss, what memories I would keep at the front of my mind, and whether I would feel I lived my life exactly the way that I wanted to live it.” (Spotify)
17. “Twice” almost wasn’t the album closer. “I had reservations about making this the last song because it’s such an obvious choice with the key change and outro. And generally speaking, I’m anti the obvious choice. But then George Daniel, who is very good with tracklisting, simply said, ‘You’re an idiot if you don’t put this song last.’” (Apple Music)

ON THE PERSONNEL: 

18. “Crash” and “Every Rule” are the only tracks on CRASH that are produced by Charli’s longtime friend and creative confidante A.G. Cook. Cook has been involved in the writing and production of 45 Charli songs. 
19. For track #8 “Lightning,” Charli enlisted the help of producer Ariel Rechtshaid. Fans may remember that he produced eight of the thirteen tracks on Charli’s debut album True Romance. He is also known for his work with Haim, Vampire Weekend, and Sky Ferreira.
20. Track #2 “New Shapes” features vocals by Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek. Charli previously collaborated with Christine on “Gone” and Caroline on “Tears.” 
21. Songwriter Noonie Bao is credited on five tracks on CRASH. Bao’s writing has appeared  on 17 songs in Charli’s discography. The songwriter has also worked with MØ, Tinashe, Carly Rae Jepsen, and more. 
22. “Constant Repeat” was produced by Lotus IV. He is credited on four of the thirteen tracks on CRASH and also produced fan favorite “Gone” from Charli’s self-titled album.
23. “Baby” was written with Justin Raisen, who co-wrote four songs on Charli’s debut album True Romance. 

ON THE CREATIVE PROCESS: 

24. Charli began working on CRASH back in 2020 and had hinted at it in various social media posts, referring to it as the “Janet album.” A screenshotted conversation between the artist and A.G. Cook revealed that she had planned on releasing CRASH before How I’m Feeling Now, but had to pivot due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 
25. “Every Rule,” “New Shapes,” and “Baby” were recorded pre-pandemic. (Apple Music)
26. Keeping with the “sellout” theme of the era, Charli admits that “Good Ones” was “not really written hugely by myself but by two amazing topliners, Caroline Ailin and Noonie Bao.” (Apple Music) The track also features writing and production by Oscar Holter who is known for working with pop music legend Max Martin. 
27. Charli admits that “Beg For You” was a pitch song, meaning that she did not partake in the writing process other than to change a few lyrics. “I felt like CRASH wouldn’t really be a truthful representation of what it’s like to be a female pop artist signed to Atlantic Records without doing an interpolation song, so I did it,” she says. (EW)
28. Track #6 “Move Me” was written in a writing camp hosted by prolific songwriter Ian Kirkpatrick. “I ended up writing this with [US songwriter and producer] Amy Allen. We’re actually polar opposites in terms of our styles, which is why this song ended up being so beautiful—the aggressive parts of the song where I was basically yelling into a mic are very me, then you have the balance of Amy’s gorgeous verses.” (Apple Music) 
29. “Yuck” was also a pitched song. Charli explains in an interview with Vulture that the chorus was written for her by singer-songwriter bülow and her co-writers Mike Wise, Lowell, and Nathan Ferraro. 
30. “Used To Know Me” interpolates “Show Me Love” by Robin S. She shares, “I wrote this on my own at Stargate’s studios, which probably made me feel like I had to write a really big pop song, and then when I was listening to it on repeat in my car, I just started singing the synth line to “Show Me Love” by Robin S. So I called a few people and was like, ‘Is this possible?’ And everyone said, ‘Yes, but do you care about publishing?’ And I was like, ‘I guess not.’” (Apple Music)

ON THE MUSIC VIDEOS: 

31. “Good Ones” music video was filmed in Mexico and directed by Hannah Lux Davis. Davis has made music videos with countless pop superstars, including Ariana Grande, Doja Cat, Demi Lovato and more.
32. The album release date was cleverly concealed in the “Good Ones” music video on one of the gravestones. 
33. The music video for “New Shapes” features a cameo from Instagram comedian Benito Skinner, aka Benny Drama. He is best known for his spot-on Kardashian impersonations, but in the video, he plays the stereotypical sexist 80s television host.
34. Fans may recognize some of Caroline Polachek’s choreography in “New Shapes” from her own music video for “So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings.” 
35. Wardrobe for both “Good Ones” and “New Shapes” was selected by Los Angeles-based stylist Chris Horan, who has worked with Barbie Ferreira, Debby Ryan, Jordan Peele, and more. 
36. The music video for “Beg For You” features Charli and Rina performing a blood sacrifice and becoming the leaders of a cult. The imagery is fitting with the theme of that album, which plays with the idea of “selling your soul” to the music industry. 
37. Choreographer Nathan Kim was utilized for all of the music videos in the CRASH era. In the past, Charli hasn’t done nearly as much choreography. “It’s really freeing, and I have so much fun doing it. I’m enjoying this new way of creating, and I have such a huge amount of respect for artists who dance, for dancers, for anyone who expresses themselves through movement, because I think it’s really emotional,” she says in an MTV News interview. “It’s obviously very physical. It can really help you work through your feelings about things. So it’s kind of been like my savior this past year. It’s just allowed me to really  exercise a lot of emotions that I’ve had, so I love it. I would highly recommend it.” (MTV)

Thanks for reading! Just a note: I tried to cite my sources wherever it was relevant, but I didn’t cite anything that was readily available knowledge – be it album liner notes, personnel, or music video credits. If you catch any mistakes, feel free to let me know in the comments below. Enjoy!