Charli XCX - Famous (Video)

Tonight Charli XCX plays Brighton, UK. We’ll be there. Based on the previous six gigs we’ve seen her play we’ll probably need a lie down and time to recover afterwards. So for that reason we’re taking just a tiny holiday away from the blog, but normal posting will resume towards the end of the week.

In the meantime here’s the new Eric Wareheim directed video for Famous, which will be Charli’s next single. The video deals with the juxtaposition between reality and social media dependence – complete with selfie sticks, a gimmick that surely in 10 years we’ll all look back at and go ‘do you remember those?’

Famous is set for release on June 1st via Asylum Records. It’s taken from Charli’s album Sucker which currently stands as our most listened to album of 2015. Does this make it our favourite so far? Perhaps.  Or perhaps not. We live in age where 'favourite' has become quantified – from clicking the the little star on tweets, to Facebook likes, to You Tube or Hype Machine hearts. Yet there’s also an argument that just because you don’t play a record so many times it can still be a favourite - quantity isn't everything. A lot depends on your listening style and strategy. 

Does that last sentence sound a bit theoretical and university thesis like? Yeah, of course it does, but hey sometimes here at Breaking More Waves we like to delve a little bit deeper. It’s not all just ‘here’s a good pop song blah blah blah.’ Although Famous is a really good pop song. Blah blah blah.

So to keep it simple here’s the theory:

If you’re what Huron (2002) described as either an Emotional Listener or an Ecstatic Listener you’re much more likely to define your favourite as something that connects in an emotional way – even if you only listen a few times.

Does the Charli XCX album connect with us on some deep emotional level? Does it give us goosebumps? No. But it does make us want to bounce round the room and do crazy air punches. For the theorists that’s a fair amount of us being a Kinesthetic listener. Sucker isn’t about contemplation, it’s about motivation, and this record gets us fired up.

So next time someone laughs at you for saying that one of your favourite records of the year is some trashy pop album, rather than the new Sufjan Stevens record; ignore them. They’ve just got a different listening style to you, it's that as much as anything else that defines their taste. It doesn’t make you or them any more or less of a music fan.

We linked to Huron’s explanation of listening styles and strategies a few posts ago, but here it is again in case you missed it (click here).

We'll be back soon.

Charli XCX - Famous (Video)