After dropping a teaser a few days ago, Charli XCX’s collaboration with Sky Ferreira, ‘Cross You Out’, has finally landed. It’s the latest preview of ‘Charli’, the pop artist’s highly anticipated third album.
The duet, produced by Charli’s longtime collaborator A.G. Cook and Lotus IV, is a ballad about finally severing ties with someone – and not feeling bad about it. “When you’re not around, when you’re not around/ I finally cross you out,” the chorus goes. “Century of tears/ Silence was another denial/ Though I’d fall apart/ But now you’re gone, I’m doing fine,” Ferreira sings on her verse.
‘Cross You Out’ is “about leaving some pretty traumatic people from my past behind me”, Charli explained on Instagram. Stream it below:
Before the song’s release, Charli made herself available for a fan Q&A on Twitter. When asked about the experience of working with Ferreira, she replied, “Amazing. Sky is brilliant. She has taste and knows what she wants.”
Amazing. Sky is brilliant. She has taste and knows what she wants.
— Charli (@charli_xcx) August 16, 2019
Charli also revealed that she’s made a song with Grimes, “but we want to make something more pop.” She added, “Hopefully we can get back in the studio sometime in the future.”
Yes we already did. We made a song. But we want to make something more pop. Hopefully we can get back in the studio sometime in the future.
— Charli (@charli_xcx) August 16, 2019
Two ‘Charli’ songs in particular came up during the Q&A: ‘Next Level Charli’, which she said is the song she’s most excited to play on tour, and ‘Click’, featuring Kim Petras and Tommy Cash.
“‘Click’ is iconic,” Charli declared to one fan, explaining that Petras’ verse was so good that she was compelled to redo hers because it “wasn’t hype enough”.
Click is iconic. When Kim sent me her verse I had to redo mine coz she was absolutely killllingggg me. My first verse wasnt hype enough. So I re did it. Her and tommy go so hard on that song.
— Charli (@charli_xcx) August 16, 2019
She also responded to questions about unreleased material (she’ll probably never release fan favourite ‘Come To My Party’), revealed her plans to organise something in Brazil in 2020, and teased the release of new merchandise.
The tracklist of ‘Charli’ also includes ‘Gone’ featuring Christine & the Queens and ‘Blame It On Your Love’ featuring Lizzo. The album arrives in full on September 13.