Charli XCX is in an enviable place right now, and she’s clearly reveling in it. The True Romance singer’s name keeps popping up with the release of Icona Pop’s international debut album, which features her songwriting on the hit “I Love It.” She’s in the midst of a stint opening U.K. dates for Paramore, another group whose latest full-length combines stylistic playfulness with keen pop instincts. And now, out of nowhere, she has shared a video for a non-album song that takes the bubblegum love-buzz of Paramore‘s “Still Into You” and stretches it through hypercolor electro-pop (bye bye forever, “goth” talk; hello, a million crushed-out mixtapes).
“SuperLove” is due out on December 2 via iTunes, but the song’s video could hardly be a better introduction. Director Ryan Andrews, now overseeing at least his sixth Charli XCX clip, shot this one with his subject in Japan, and it might be one of those videos you look back on as the moment where it all came together. Every element is remarkably assured, whether Charli is singing with dancing robots or posing with a biker gang, and most importantly, it’s always vivid, neon-bright fun.
Charlotte Aitchison is seizing her moment, and when she writes her email list to say that “this is my most favourite video I’ve ever worked on,” it’s not hard to believe her. She cares. And she loves it. For an artist who’s been known to cover the Backstreet Boys (oh, and who may be writing a song or two for Britney Spears), that just might lead her to stages where, who knows, Paramore might be opening for her someday.
