Charli xcx has released Music, Fashion, Film, a new record that shifts away from the neon, maximalist energy of Brat in favour of a more guitar-driven, textural sound. The album — which follows an arena run, a remix project and a mockumentary — was recorded last October while the artist was in Paris for Fashion Week, a choice her producer, A.G. Cook, made intentionally to capture a particular creative mood.
An album forged in the bustle of fashion week
Charli has been open about arriving at the sessions creatively drained and planning a break. As she told Rolling Stone, "I was really, really ready to peace out and take a break and not make music" before inspiration arrived. That sudden impulse produced a set of tracks that Charli and her team say lean into live instrumentation and a rougher-edged approach than her previous era.
The record features the previously released singles "Rock Music," "SS26," "Wink Wink" and "Camera." The creative concept around recording during Fashion Week was partly theatrical: Cook believed that placing Charli in that environment would prompt her to inhabit a performative persona and feed the album’s attitude.
Visual collaborators and cinematic cover art
The album art, photographed by Scottish filmmaker and photographer Aidan Zamiri, who also collaborated on Charli’s A24 mockumentary The Moment, has already attracted attention. The black-and-white image depicts three cultural figures — John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese — gathered in a kitchen, a composition Charli described to Shaad magazine as a blend of ambition, glamour and personal immediacy.
"Some of my favourite music that I've made in my life has always been made in these quite chaotic, hectic, interim periods where we're focused," Charli told Rolling Stone.
- Recorded in Paris during Fashion Week (October).
- Produced by A.G. Cook, who pursued the recording setting as part of the project’s concept.
- Cover shot by Aidan Zamiri; imagery includes John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese.
What this means for Charli’s trajectory
Coming so soon after Brat — the lime‑green, culturally resonant record that dominated conversations — Music, Fashion, Film suggests Charli is intent on evolving her public persona and sound rather than resting on past momentum. The record’s outsize visual ambition, its ties to fashion and film worlds, and the prominence of live guitar textures signal a deliberate repositioning: an artist moving from pop maximalism into a leaner, more referential mode that still retains theatricality.
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Producer | A.G. Cook |
| Recording time | October (during Paris Fashion Week) |
| Cover photographer | Aidan Zamiri |
| Notable cover figures | John Cale, Marc Jacobs, Martin Scorsese |
While fans and critics will now parse the music itself, the circumstances of its making — an intentional plunge into the tumult of Fashion Week, accompanied by cinematic imagery — make Music, Fashion, Film a document of an artist deliberately staging reinvention. Whether this marks the start of a sustained new era or a compelling aside to Charli’s catalogue, it arrives as a carefully crafted statement that ties sound, style and filmic gesture together.
