“Good Ones” – Single Review

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Hyperpop princess Charli XCX is announcing her new musical era with a bang! She recently released “Good Ones,” an 80s-inspired banger about letting “the good ones” go. 

It’s a marked change from the artist’s previous offerings of hyperpop tracks. For those not in the know, hyperpop is “a loosely-defined music movement and microgenre characterized by a maximalist or exaggerated take on popular music. Artists tagged with the label typically integrate pop and avant-garde sensibilities, drawing on tropes from electronic, hip hop, and dance music” (thank you, Wikipedia). 

Basically, if the song sounds like alien EDM made with pots and pans, you’re listening to hyperpop. Charli XCX was one of the early adopters of the sound and brought it to the mainstream. Even middle-of-the-road pop artists have started to experiment with the sound – Taylor Swift teamed up with longtime Charli XCX collaborator BJ Burton for evermore’s “closure.”

With “Good Ones,” Charli XCX goes back to bigger pop sounds (see her excellent 2014 album SUCKER). The track features springy synths and crisp, drum machine beats. “I want the bad ones, ‘cause they’re all I know // I always let the good ones go,” she sing-songs in the irresistibile pre chorus.

In a statement released about the song, the singer says, “The first single of my new chapter embraces all that my life has to offer in today’s world – fame, glamour, inner demons and global hits. ‘Good Ones’ was produced by Oscar Holter of Max Martin’s Wolf Cousins entity, and laments my inability to keep hold of healthy relationships, instead being endlessly drawn back to the dysfunctional and toxic.”  

The song’s release was also accompanied by a cinematic music video that sees the singer mourning a lost love by dancing on top of their coffin. Classic Charli XCX. 

Moving towards a mainstream pop sound shouldn’t be groundbreaking, but with an artist like Charli XCX, who constantly pushes boundaries, it’s a surprising – but not unwelcome – move. I’m looking forward to hearing more from everyone’s favorite pop rebel!

Check out “Good Ones” here!

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