Review: Charli XCX - London Queen

Charli XCX has dropped a track from her upcoming album online!

'London Queen', which Charli has been playing live for a couple of months now, is the third track we've heard from her upcoming sophomore album Sucker, after the two flawless singles which she's premiered in the past year. Thematically, the song speaks about Charli's move from London to America, with lyrics like "I never thought I'd be living in the USA/Doing things the American way/Living the dream like a London queen". Describing the track to Rolling Stone, Charli mused that the song sounded like "future Ramones", and said that the song was one of the few that she's recorded that came to her almost completely finished. "That's something that I would never usually do, take a song that's basically almost been written for me, but it was a song that Justin made, and I was like, fuck, this song is so good and it feels like it's about me," she said, praising the producer Justin Raisen as "one of the most amazing producers around right now, and he's going to blow the fuck up in the next couple of years".

We must say though, we are just a little disappointed with this track. After the insanely catchy, feel-good upbeat jam that was 'Boom Clap' and the sultry, punk-pop anthem 'Break The Rules', 'London Queen' can't help but feel a little underwhelming. It's caught in the middle of both of those singles, which leads to some pretty weak, repetitive lyrics, a sub-par production and none of that "catchiness" factor that Charli's profitting off right now with songs like 'Fancy'. Here's hoping the rest of Sucker will leave a better taste in our mouths.

Pros:

• The references to "JFK" and "doing things the American way" are giving us 'Party in the USA' teas, which can never be a bad thing.

Cons:

• The chorus, and the melody and lyrics in general, lack the punch that Charli's been serving us with her past few singles.
• The production sounds a little underwhelming and unfinished.