Charli XCX arrives at Trabendo with plenty of momentum behind her, thanks in no small part to her collaborations with Icona Pop and Iggy Azalea. But she is already more interesting than most of the current crop of chart pop singers. The songs are catchy, direct and sometimes abrasive, with enough attitude to keep the whole thing from becoming anonymous.
She is not the strongest singer in purely technical terms, and her voice is not especially distinctive, but it fits the material perfectly. More importantly, she has presence. The songs have hooks, the choruses work, and there is a slightly bratty edge to the performance that suits her far better than polished pop-star perfection ever could.
The real question is what happens next. She has already shown that she can write and perform successful pop songs, and she clearly has ambitions beyond being a featured voice on other people's hits. Whether that turns into a long career or a brief run remains to be seen.
For now, one thing is obvious: Charli XCX has personality, and that already puts her ahead of a lot of the competition.
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