Watch Charli XCX & SOPHIE Debut A Bunch Of New Songs At 30 Days In LA
Paul Carter
Last night in downtown Los Angeles, Charli XCX delivered a high-octane midnight set that juxtaposed PC Music’s glossy artifice with the songwriter-cum-pop-star’s own effortless cool. Charli didn’t bother to mask her lip-syncing, called out the crowd for not moving enough (“please do something … more,” she requested for “Bounce”), and at one point let SOPHIE have the spotlight alone for few minutes while she refilled her drink, but the music — largely a preview of her anticipated third album — was thrilling. The headline performance at the cavernous former stock exchange LA Exchange came courtesy of Red Bull Sound Select’s annual 30 Days In LA, which is appropriate since some of these new songs are the aural equivalent of drinking 30 Red Bulls (I assume).
Hopefully the crowd of twenty-somethings in high-end streetwear and star-shaped face stickers was not expecting “Break The Rules,” “Doing It,” “SuperLove,” or any of the other indelible Sucker-era jams that Charli seems to have disowned as of late. She did, however, offer the still earth-stopping “Boom Clap,” clutching a long-stemmed rose handed to her from the crowd. It sounded monstrous, yet it was the most subdued the night got; the rest of the show doubled as a showcase for the singer’s intense and provocative dancing. Speaking of which, before Charli came out for “Trophy,” her “Cloud Aura” collaborator Brooke Candy primed the crowd with this NSFW intro.
The entirety of Charli & SOPHIE’s Vroom Vroom EP was performed, like it was at the duo’s live debut at SXSW in March, along with solo SOPHIE cuts “Just Like We Never Said Goodbye” and “Vyzee.” But the lack of old songs meant there was also time in the 90-minute set for several new songs we can presumably expect on the forthcoming LP: “TKO,” “Daddy Knows,” “Roll With Me,” “Keep Me Safe,” “Taxi,” “Hey Boy Hey Girl,” and “No Angel.”
Charli sheepishly introduced most by saying simply “here’s a new one,” though she clarified that “Hey Boy Hey Girl” is a duet with someone who couldn’t be there and invited SOPHIE down to the mic to introduce “No Angel,” a song that’s “so fun and amazing.” One of our favorite new songs, new single “After The Afterparty,” was fun and amazing too even without Little Yachty.
You can check out videos of new songs below and look for the still untitled (to us) LP3 in early 2017 via Atlantic.
