This summer, I’ve been so into the new Charli XCX album, True Romance, that I’ve all but given up listening to anything else. It’s the perfect forward-thinking retro 80’s goth pop dancefloor dive bar makeout mixtape — one that gets better and better with loud, constantly repeated plays. Charli draws heavy inspiration from the likes of Lene Lovich, Siouxsie Sioux, Nina Hagen, Pat Benetar and Danielle Dax while sitting pretty among contemporaries like Lily Allen, Marina + The Diamonds, Robyn and Icona Pop (for whom she wrote the global chart topper, ‘I Love It’).

Here’s hoping some of the ‘I Love It’ sales mojo rubs off on True Romance — there is not a dud song in the bunch. I rank it with Madonna’s Music, Britney’s Femme Fatale, Lady Gaga’s The Fame Monster and Robyn’s Body Talk  among the 2000’s best pop platters. It’s refreshing to see someone exude both club cool and emotional and romantic vulnerability — all while riding monster hooks, fresh beats and slinky, throbby, sizzling synth beds. If you go old school and buy the CD, you get online access to four free remixes.

How she found the time to record new music amidst all of her touring is beyond me — but lo and behold — she’s just debuted four new tracks on what appears to be her new Soundcloud page. Huge thanks to our friends at PopOnAndOn for the tip about ‘Chains.”

Monday Update: Well, we hope you enjoyed em while you could — just as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.

Even if it was an unintended leak, the new material: ‘I Don’t Know Your Name,’ ‘Chains,’ ‘Heartbreak High,’ and ‘Cuts Like Chains’ show some promising momentum. They retain the songwriting and production prowess of True Romance while softening the goth undertones in a flat out bid for global domination. Utterly fabulous. Here’s hoping radio and the world at large wakes up soon to the delicious joys of Ms. XCX.

Drown your sorrows with this officially-blessed True Romance bonus track, a duet with Marina + The Diamnonds:

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/90272861″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Charli XCX True Romance

True Romance is available this week for $6.99 on Amazon. For upcoming US tour headlining dates, connect with Charli on online and on facebook.

Download Now, Music

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About the Author

Keith Creighton

Keith is a music correspondent for Popdose and an advocate on women's empowerment, gender identity, and gender liberation issues. He is a monthly new-music contributor to the Planet LP Podcast and is a marketing writer by day for Sudden Monkey.

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