Music, Fashion, Film: How Charli xcx Continues to Rock the Music Industry’s Moulds
Written by Fleur Kas (she/her) edited by Charlotte Lewis
When I first heard Charli xcx was making a rock-inspired album, I was admittedly sceptical. However, as singles ‘SS26’, ‘Wink Wink’, and ‘Camera’ dropped, I found myself appreciating her new musical direction. Released on July 24th 2026, Music, Fashion, Film received generally positive critical reception, but has consistently been compared to xcx’s latest album, Brat. Whilst this allows for interesting discussion, I believe the discourse should more thoroughly consider xcx’s emergence as a multimedia female artist.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved both Brat and Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat, xcx’s collaborative album with artists such as Addison Rae, Lorde, and Billie Eilish. However, the creative collaboration on MFF feels integral to the album’s purpose. Shot by Scottish photographer Aidan Zamiri, the album cover depicts John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese, three respective embodiments of music, fashion, and film. Cale, who recently collaborated with xcx on ‘House’, is 84 years old but continues to make records and tour around the UK and Europe. Last year, I saw him at the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow for his POPtical Illusion tour: despite his age, he performed with the same vigour as in the days of The Velvet Underground.
Let’s focus on the centre of the image, the one and only Marc Jacobs. Not quite as senior as Cale and Scorsese, he’s leaning against a kitchen cabinet, rocking some ballet flats. xcx has frequently modelled for Marc Jacobs, for instance, for his Sack Bag campaign and Spring 2018 eyewear collection, as well as his Y2K-inspired brand, Heaven. To include Jacobs on the cover shows xcx paying homage to the people she has collaborated with in the past: since endorsing his brand, he appears confident in endorsing MFF.
Last but not least, director Martin Scorsese is pictured on the right. Whilst xcx has only recently embarked on her acting career, Scorsese has been directing New Hollywood films since 1967. There’s definitely some irony in the album cover featuring three serious-looking men, in contrast to xcx’s media image as a somewhat reckless female pop star. Enhanced by the black-and-white filter and the deserted kitchen setting, there’s something undeniably nostalgic about MFF. It’s no wonder xcx takes us back to 2007 and transports the listener between her bedroom and Paris, distorting our sense of time and place.
In an interview with Nicky at Night, xcx describes MFF as the ‘polar opposite’ to Brat. I would agree with this statement, going as far as to say that the pop releases of summer 2026 have taken a more introspective approach compared to those released during Brat summer. Whilst 2024 celebrated albums such as Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet and Chappell Roan’s iconic single ‘Good Luck, Babe!’, we’ve been dealt with a different hand of cards this time around. Take Olivia Rodrigo’s you seem pretty sad for a girl so in love, dare I say the best heartbreak album I’ve heard this year. Similar to xcx, Rodrigo has a feature song with Robert Smith, lead singer of The Cure. It seems that intergenerational collaboration is on the rise in pop music, preserving both past and present voices into our uncertain future.
xcx’s representation of gender is something I continue to grapple with when listening to MFF. In her essay ‘Feminism So Confusing’, critic Amy Whiteside situates Brat within nihilistic feminism, a disavowal of both patriarchy and feminism which manifests as political hopelessness and withdrawal, hedonistic hyperindividualism, and aestheticised apolitical chaos. I would argue that MFF can be analysed through a similar framework, particularly the ‘Wink Wink’ music video, featuring hypersexualised images of xcx masturbating to smut and squirting whipped cream into her mouth. Whilst the song feels like a mockery of xcx’s sexualisation as a woman in music, this is simultaneously aestheticised by the impeccable styling and colour grading. Similarly, the lyrics of ‘I’m Afraid’ evoke a sense of internalised misogyny: the repetition of ‘take the ring’ suggests xcx feels incompetent to be George Daniel’s wife. It is perhaps the duality between empowering and doubting her identity as a woman that makes MFF a pivotal piece of music in xcx’s career.
Moreover, Whiteside adds that nihilism-driven feminism is only available to privileged groups of people and serves to uphold existing patriarchal structures. It’s certainly true that not every girl can stage a SS26 runway show with looks from Balmain, Saint Laurent, and Chrome Hearts, falling on a pair of Louboutins on the runway to hell – nor do I think xcx will have her card declined any time soon. As the singer admits in ‘SS26’, ‘think my politics could work as a press strategy’, suggesting how nihilistic feminism serves as a marketing tactic rather than a productive movement. Notably, in the music video, xcx adopts the roles of both model and fashion critic, her different personas strutting down the catwalk. As opposed to being a feminist role model, xcx is critical of her own flaws and perception in the limelight.
Following that, the catchy track ‘Camera’ powerfully captures the themes of fame, gender, and art, making it my personal favourite on the album. The music video features xcx on set with Vincent Cassel, both literally and figuratively shooting him for what appears to be a Western film. Whilst Cassel has the most screen time in the music video, xcx reclaims her power as a woman in the creative industries by pulling the trigger and sitting on top of the camera. Upon closer listening, the lyrics are deeply vulnerable, with the line ‘daring to fail and being ugly’ uncovering the insurmountable pressures of being a woman navigating music, fashion, and film.
That said, I would argue that MFF has humble undertones and defies hyperindividualism: rather, it is a testament to xcx’s work relationships and friendships. Take the opening lyrics of ‘Rock Music’: ‘Me and my friends, we go out / We take pictures and make stuff together’, followed by the slightly controversial ‘We kiss each other, real incestuous vibes.’ From the get-go, xcx clarifies that this album is about collaboration instead of individualism. Additionally, the track ‘Magic Metal Montana’ is attributed to A.G. Cook, xcx’s producer and friend. The lyrics ‘I think you taught me, I think I taught you’ demonstrate the interdependence between the two creatives, rather than a hierarchy informed by gender or social status.
Alongside MFF, xcx released an eponymous short film featuring behind-the-scenes footage from her music videos and miscellaneous content. At the beginning of the film, xcx admits she is ‘not an expert’ in any of the three fields, but that they are intrinsically linked in shaping her identity. Whereas The Moment, a film starring and co-produced by xcx earlier this year, was marketed as a mockumentary of Brat, this film is playful yet hauntingly beautiful. In particular, the final track ‘No One Lasts Forever’, featuring David Cronenberg, is accompanied by a montage of clips from xcx’s career, interspersed with horror stills from what are presumably Cronenberg’s films. Ultimately, xcx jumps off the runway, symbolising a surrender to mortality and her fears about leaving a legacy.
To conclude, MFF is not just about xcx picking up the guitar, wearing more black, or smoking cigarettes. Rather than being an easy summer listen, the album provokes personal introspection and offers social commentary. By weaving three art forms together, xcx has created an anachronistic yet relevant piece of media, which particularly speaks to a female-identifying audience. Whilst drawing on nihilistic feminist tropes, it is the celebration of creative communities that marks a new era in xcx’s career, unbounded by form nor time. No one lasts forever, but this album sure will in my music library.