Like 2011’s semi-successful breakout star Kimbra, who starred on “Somebody That I Used To Know,” Charli XCX (alias of Charlotte Aitchison) is primarily known for featuring on another artist’s song. In this case, the song is Swedish duo Icona Pop’s “I Love It,” one of the ubiquitous songs of summer 2013, on which Charli XCX both features and has a writing credit. That song, like much of Aitchison’s output, is full of youthful recklessness, EDM-inspired beats and cleverly catchy songwriting. The audience at the Sinclair Tuesday was expecting all of these things, and was not disappointed.
Before Aitchison took the stage, electropop group Kitten warmed the crowd up for an hour with an act that was catchy to both the eyes and ears. They were a perfect opening act for Charli XCX: Lead singer Chloe Chaidez and her band’s provocative dancing and high-energy performance had the crowd in an uproar within minutes. Chaidez, who has been playing in bands since age ten and is a talented singer and songwriter, thrives on stage. During the final number, she temporarily excused herself from vocal duties and proceeded to climb her amp tower and swing from the lighting fixture above the stage. It was an irritating act of youthful arrogance to the Sinclair’s security staff, who tried to pull her down, but to the crowd it was pure rock and roll attitude.
Charli XCX was slightly more refined but equally entertaining. Although only 21, Aitchison has all of the swagger and self-confidence of a performance veteran. She debuted a new track, “SuperLove,” and played favorites from her debut album True Romance, including “Black Roses” and “You (Ha Ha Ha),” which borrows a sample from EDM producer Gold Panda. Somewhat surprisingly, she sounds stronger live than she does on record; Aitchison’s powerful vocals are not the result of studio embellishment at all. On the contrary, she and her all-female backing band produced a rich sound that surpassed the hyper-produced atmosphere of her studio recordings.
Toward the end of her set, Aitchison unleashed “I Love It,” which predictably led to off-key screams of “I got this feeling on the summer day when you were gone / I crashed my car into the bridge…” from every corner of the audience. Although this was by far the most recognizable track of the evening, it’s a testament to the high quality of Aitchison’s material that most of her songs received a similarly enthusiastic response from the crowd.
Dark female vocal electropop is thriving right now, and Charli XCX stands shoulder to shoulder with fellow Britons Ellie Goulding and Grimes as the vanguard of the movement. Her music, and those of her genre mates, is blurring the lines between the catchy melodicism of Top 40 pop and the more alternative sensibilities of a thousand indie bands. As if to make this fact perfectly clear, Aitchison began her encore with child star Aaron Carter’s version of “I Want Candy,” the gold standard of vapidly catchy pop, and followed it up with her anguished electronica gem “Grins.” This playfulness isn’t unexpected—she was wearing a pair of Minnie Mouse ears for half of the performance—but it’s a promising sign of a young artist on the rise who doesn’t take herself too seriously.
Having opened for Ellie Goulding and Paramore this year, Aitchison is set to release her new album next month.