As you should all know (or soon shall!) I love Charli XCX! In fact, I <3 her! She is a cool, quirky, pop powerhouse, and she is going to be big, be it in indie cyberspace or above the water.
She released her mixtape HEARTBREAKS AND EARTHQUAKES approximately a month ago now, and whilst I've been listening to it non-stop and have been planning to review it, I just never really got around to it.
But I shall now! The mixtape is split into arcs named after famous and cult films (namely Beyond the Black Rainbow, The Craft, Kill Bill, Cruel Intentions, American Beauty), incorporating soundbites to show the transitions. Similarly, the arcs shift between moods, altering between sultry seductress, self hate and love, largely discussing relationships and doubts.
Charli has a penchant for spoken word/semi-rapping segments, and this gets a lot of air time here, similarly to when used on 'Stay Away'. But the balance is right, it works and makes the songs more interesting (Charli recently stated in an interview that she used to have pipedreams of being a rapper in her early days, so it is most likely channelled here!).
Apart from that, the mixtape contains samples and remixes of Blood Orange, Blood Diamonds, Drake, Rudimental, plus others, as well as a very short remix of her recent (US)/ soon to be (UK) single, 'You're The One' by Odd Future's The Internet and Mike G.
So anyway, apart from the delay, a very good mixtape to whet our appetites for the album later in the year!
Enjoy :)
