Charli XCX Covers VANITY FAIR November Issue

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It’s time for Brat’s next act. VANITY FAIR revealed its November cover featuring Charli xcx, who opens up to VF contributing editor Anna Peele about married life, her next creative chapter, her public persona and reputation, and even addressing alleged feuds.

Following the success of her massive global tour—and wedding to 1975’s drummer, George Daniel—Charli has seven films coming out, including three that debuted at the Toronto or Venice film festivals. Charli will have a lead role in THE MOMENT, distributed by A24, a revisionist history focused on the aftermath of Brat’s release in which she stars with Alexander Skarsgård. 

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On the end of the Brat era…

“I don’t really get to decide when it’s over or not,” she says. “I think that’s up to the world.” It will eventually exist “as a relic.” “I don’t think people will forget it,” she says. On the other hand, “It’s not fucking New Wave.”

“The end will be interesting,” Charli says. “Because then I have to look at myself in a different way and be stripped of the thing that everyone identified me with.” Whatever this post-brat version of Charli xcx is, she says, “I won’t be staring into the abyss wondering what I’m gonna do.”

On finding her own identity in the music industry…

“But I think I’ve really struggled over the years, because I’ve never felt like I fit in. Am I supposed to be this underground left artist, or am I supposed to try and be this commercial package? And I think before Brat, I just gave up on fighting with myself on that. I really said, ‘Okay, I am going to make this record in this specific way, and I’m actually fine with the consequences of that; if it means no one hears it, if it means I get dropped by my label.’ ”

On her public image…

“It’s fascinating to see how people ingest your personality and spit it back out—what people cling on to, what people miss. I’m always interested in, like, what does the casual viewer think? And they probably think I’m a girl who parties and does drugs and is a little bit bitchy.”

On her reputation…

“I hate this phrase, but what you see is what you get with me. People think it’s all some kind of performance, but it’s not. I’m not sat here talking to you being the way that I am onstage. But I think there is a correlation in that there’s a messiness and a lack of perfection. It’s the combination of talking about those things whilst also embracing them and really struggling with them is what makes me whole. And I think that it makes me honest. You can vouch for me, I hope.”

On what to expect from her upcoming project, The Moment…

“It’s not a tour documentary or a concert film in any way, but the seed of the idea was conceived from this idea of being pressured to make one. It’s fiction, but it’s the realest depiction of the music industry that I’ve ever seen.”

On deciding to pursue opportunities outside of music…

“You could just do more of that thing because now that’s what people see you as. You’ve solidified this brand that people seem to understand and want to digest very easily.

“Did I need everyone’s validation to feel that way? I guess I probably did, and that’s probably why I am an artist. But I think once I had that experience, that’s reward enough for me to feel satisfied in that area for a while.”

On finding comfort in wedded bliss…

“When he’s [Daniel] deep within making a 1975 record and needs perspective, we can talk about it, and vice versa. It feels very calming to have that. Sometimes, you have to really grapple with fear and expectation and it [fame and success] being over.”

[Photo Credit: Aiden Zamiri / Vanity Fair]

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