What had you achieved by the time you were 20?
While most of us are still struggling to figure out why the hell we've been put on this green and blue sphere at such a tender age, Charlotte Aitchison – or Charli XCX to you – had it sussed. In fact, the young Cambridge woman had already released two albums by then, and was on her to co-featuring on Iggy Azalea's mega-hit 'Fancy', as well as writing Icona Pop's irritatingly catchy 'I Don't Care'.
Still only 22, Sucker, her third, is an album brimming with both creativity and an ardent sense of self-awareness. This is pop music that refuses to speak down to its audience, yet is fully aware of the fizzy, frothy nature – and often, the ridiculousness – of the genre. There are sloganeering electro-pop numbers that are reminiscent of early Madonna (the swoonsome throb of 'Boom Clap'), songs that bristle with a Joan Jett-style swagger ('Breaking Up') and songs that chart the highs and lows of the pop business ('Gold Coins', 'Famous') with a Marina and the Diamonds-style zing.
Perhaps it's because Aitchison worked with a varied crew of co-songwriters that 'Sucker' is so compelling: everyone from Benny Blanco to Rivers Cuomo of Weezer and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend lined up to contribute. In any case, it makes for a wonderfully diverse collection that buzzes, pings and sashays through some sultry, breezy three-minute electro-pop tunes. By the time she's 30, she might just have conquered the world.
