Charli XCX just released her sixth studio album Brat on Friday and the deluxe edition today. The record is being met with critical acclaim, but one song in particular has been a topic of discussion among fans.
In a track called “Girl, so confusing,” Charli details a relationship with a friend within the music industry and how her jealousy made things complicated. While it hasn’t been stated who this track is about, many sleuths believe the subject of the song is none other than Lorde.
Charli and Lorde were both getting big around the same time. Lorde’s breakout hit “Royals” was released in 2013 and Charli XCX released her hit “Boom Clap” in early 2014. The two had a similar appearance, even getting mixed up in interviews for each other.
In an interview, Charli claimed she even signed autographs as Lorde when being mistaken for the “girl who sings ‘Royals.'” In “Girl, so confusing,” Charli sings about the comparisons saying: “Cause people say we’re alike/ They say we’ve got the same hair/ One day we might make some music/ The internet would go crazy.”
Speaking with Rolling Stone UK, Charli also brought up the comparisons. She even confessed to the jealousy she had over “Royals'” success saying, “When ‘Royals’ came out, I was super jealous of the success that that song got, and that Ella got. You piece all this stuff together in your brain, like: ‘She was into my music. She had big hair; I had big hair. She wore black lipstick; I once wore black lipstick.’ You create these parallels and think, ‘Well, that could have been me.’ But it couldn’t have because we’re completely different people. I wasn’t making music that sounded anything like ‘Royals’. I think you just read what you want into it because you’re feeling insecure about your own work.”
That’s not to say there is bad blood between the two starlets. On Brat‘s release day Lorde shared her love for Charli on her Instagram story, though didn’t mention the song in her post.
“The only album I’ve ever presaved is out today… Charli just cooked this one different… So much grit, grace and skin in the game. I speak for all of us when I say it’s an honour to be moved, changed and gagged by her work. There is NO ONE like this bitch.”
Most recently, Chari appeared on the Las Culturistas podcast and chatted about the track.
“I haven’t quite decided whether I’m revealing,” she said. “When I wrote it, I was like, ‘I’m revealing!’ But now, you know, the time is here; I’m like, ‘Mmmmrrmm.’ Do you think I should reveal?… People are gonna guess. You probably have an accurate guess, and I’m not gonna say out loud ’cause you’ll tell by my face, but it’s probably going to be that person.”
She went on to discuss the state of being a woman in the music industry, “I think we live in the world of pop music right now where women are like, ‘I support other women! I love women! I’m a feminist,’ and that’s great. Love that… I don’t think you become a bad feminist if you maybe don’t see eye to eye with every single woman. That’s not the nature of human beings. There’s a competitiveness between us. There’s envy. There camaraderie. There’s all of these different dynamics.”
Listen to “Girl, So Confusing” below and let us know your thoughts.
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