Charli XCX: Her 9 best b-sides, remixes, album tracks and hidden gems: ‘Can 365 please be a single?

As brat summer continues (it always will!), Attitude deep-dives into the discography of Charli XCX, a modern day cultural icon, in a bid to discover further club classics…

‘Trophy’ (B-side)   

If Charli XCX’s favourite single of hers, ‘Vroom Vroom’, captures her ice-cool fascination with all things material, B-side ‘Trophy’ offers an electronic punch in the face that highlights her feisty and competitive nature. “I want to win / I want that trophy” asserts the opening sound bite, before the track reveals itself as a slice of feminist hyperpop calling for girls to take control and create a generation of boss bitches.  

‘Move Me’ (album track)  

This track summons the complexity of love, a synthy, sexy, mid-tempo reflection on falling for someone — at once sensual, vulnerable, afraid, passionate and obsessive. It’s a different pace from much of XCX’s work and a welcome moment of rawness amid the rest of the more polished Crash album. 

‘Welcome to My Island’ (George Daniel and Charli XCX remix)   

Only Charli XCX can create on-the-nose lyrics that veer dramatically from the sentimental to the sexual. As she hijacks a Caroline Polachek single where Polachek imagines a perfect paradise of freedom, Charli XCX turns DJ with her partner George Daniel of the 1975 as they reflect on their relationship. Although their love is all-consuming — a “total eclipse” — there is still a sense of playful sexuality: “He’s got my legs wide out like banana split.”   

‘Blame It on Your Love’ (Stripped)  

Possibly Charli XCX’s most overt love song, this stripped-back version of the hit single features resonant synths and soft percussion to better reflect the gentle lyrics than the original version, with the bass almost becoming the heartbeat trapped within the complexity of a self-destructive relationship. If much of XCX’s music features multi-layered production, this simpler track has a more emotionally raw feel that juxtaposes beautifully with other tracks on self-titled album Charli.  

‘365’ (album track)  

Charli XCX said that when she was writing ‘365’, she was imagining she was in a superclub and every door she went through revealed a slightly different room. Indeed, the bookend brat track takes the listener from the building beats of the entrance to the drug-fuelled, slow-motion high of a toilet cubicle, before climaxing in a meltdown of euphoric Daft Punk on the dance floor. It’s also a brilliant inversion of previous single ‘360’. If that song emphasised XCX’s confidence in her own star power, ‘365’ implies the album’s heroine is lost in a crucible of club music. Can it please be a single?

‘Boom Clap’ (Spotify sessions)  

It’s fair to say that Charli XCX is in her autotune era, favouring high production and artistry over more traditional vocals. However, this earlier, live version of ‘Boom Clap’, recorded at a Spotify session, shows that just because XCX has chosen a more artificial voice during her brat era, it doesn’t mean she can’t sing. This acoustic version demonstrates her sultry and rich vocals, which, paired with powerhouse attitude, embody the Charli XCX sound we know and love today.  

‘Speed Drive’ (jamesjamesjames remix)  

If this is the brat summer, last summer was the season of Barbie. Finger on the pulse as always, XCX contributed this club banger to the soundtrack. This remix offers a rawer, dirtier take on the original, and builds to a dancier, headier climax. 

‘So Over You’ (B-side)  

‘So Over You’, a B-side from the Sucker album, captures the same punk, rebellious energy of ‘I Love It’, one of the singles that led to Charli XCX’s mainstream success.  The heavy guitar and shouty vocals render this a truly hard-hitting break-up song. This furiosa persona may not be as certain as she first seems, wondering if there are regrets and hoping that her ex will never forget her. The final line — “You look so lonely / When you’re on your own” — feels less smug than worried: perhaps Charli isn’t so over him after all…  

‘I Think About It All the Time’ (album track)  

The brat album has been widely acclaimed for its self-awareness. On the one hand, it features Charli XCX’s typically ironic take on celebrity and fame. However, tracks such as ‘I Think About It All the Time’ reveal a more vulnerable and insecure truth beneath the brat persona. Here, XCX reflects on her dream of being a mother, praying that she and fiancé George still have time to become “a radiant mother” and “a beautiful father”, revealing the artist’s true fears.