# Crash (Charli XCX album)
**Crash** is the fifth studio album by the British pop artist [Charli XCX](https://www.edgepedia.org/charli-xcx), released on 18 March 2022 as her final album under the record contract she signed with [Atlantic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/atlantic-records) in 2010 at age 16.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) • [2](https://open.spotify.com/album/1QqipMXWzJhr6yfcNKTp8B) Conceived as a deliberate turn toward mainstream pop, it was billed by the artist as a "sell-out" venture into commercial pop and became her first number-one album in the United Kingdom, also topping the charts in Ireland and Australia in the same week.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 18 March 2022; 12 tracks, 33 minutes 51 seconds; Asylum Records UK / Warner Music UK[2](https://open.spotify.com/album/1QqipMXWzJhr6yfcNKTp8B) |
| Position in catalog | Fifth studio album; final release under the Atlantic deal signed in 2010 at age 16[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) • [3](https://wmg.jp/charlixcx/discography/25718) |
| Concept | A self-described "sell-out" experiment in being a major-label pop star, her last album for Atlantic[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) |
| Guests | Christine and the Queens and Caroline Polachek on "New Shapes"; Rina Sawayama on "Beg for You"[3](https://wmg.jp/charlixcx/discography/25718) |
| Interpolations | September's "Cry for You" (in "Beg for You") and Robin S.'s "Show Me Love" (in "Used to Know Me")[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) |
| UK chart | Number 1 for one week (first chart date 31 March 2022); four weeks in the Top 75[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) |
| Year-end ranking | Number 4 in The Guardian's 50 best albums of 2022[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/20/the-50-best-albums-of-2022-no-4-charli-xcx-crash) |
## Background and recording
Charli XCX signed her record contract in 2010 at the age of 16, and Crash was its final release.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) In an NPR interview she framed the album as a concept about "playing the game" of being a major-label pop star, embracing a persona of "selling out" on what she knew would be her last album for Atlantic Records.[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) She explained that the commentary came from having been signed to a major label since she was 16 while often going "off grid" rather than using the label as intended; for this record she worked with an A&R executive for the first time in ten years.[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) In The Guardian she called the record her "own personal experiment of how far I can push myself into this 2022 pop star character who's signed to Atlantic Records".[7](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/19/charli-xcx-people-who-take-it-too-far-are-better-than-people-who-dont) The idea had been visible earlier: in 2020 she tweeted that she was "interested in the concept of selling out", and she has executive-produced all her projects since 2014's Sucker.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/)
The credits span a wide range of collaborators. Warner Music Japan's page lists [A. G. Cook](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-g-cook), Digital Farm Animals, George Daniel, Ian Kirkpatrick, Jason Evigan, Justin Raisen, Ariel Rechtshaid, Oneohtrix Point Never, Jon Shave, Mike Wise, and Ilya among the contributors.[3](https://wmg.jp/charlixcx/discography/25718) The Guardian noted the same spread, from "cerebral electronica maestro Oneohtrix Point Never to chart-pop producer Digital Farm Animals".[7](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/19/charli-xcx-people-who-take-it-too-far-are-better-than-people-who-dont) A. G. Cook and [George Daniel](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-daniel) receive co-production credits on the Discogs entry.[9](https://www.discogs.com/release/23103671-Charli-XCX-Crash) Featured guests are Christine and the Queens and [Caroline Polachek](https://www.edgepedia.org/caroline-polachek) on "New Shapes", and Rina Sawayama on "Beg for You".[3](https://wmg.jp/charlixcx/discography/25718) "Beg for You" was written with the topliners Caroline Ailin and Noonie Bao; Charli XCX said the song "poured out of me quite late in the album process".[10](https://music.apple.com/us/album/crash/1592545087) AllMusic records the recording location as PC Music Studios.[11](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/crash-mr0005534503)
## Composition and sound
Crash runs about 34 minutes across 12 tracks and draws on pop styles from 1980s gated reverb to the 2020s disco revival.[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) Pitchfork describes it as spanning pop-funk, dream-pop, [Eurodance](https://www.edgepedia.org/eurodance), and post-internet glitch, with "the range of a greatest-hits compilation", distilling the styles of her earlier albums [True Romance](https://www.edgepedia.org/true-romance), Sucker, Pop 2, and [How I'm Feeling Now](https://www.edgepedia.org/how-im-feeling-now).[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) Discogs classifies the record as Electronic and Pop in the dance-pop and synth-pop styles.[9](https://www.discogs.com/release/23103671-Charli-XCX-Crash)
The album deliberately steps away from the experimental direction of its predecessors. BBC notes that it followed the experimental Charli (2019) and the [Mercury Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/mercury-prize)-nominated How I'm Feeling Now, and was billed as a "sell-out" adventure into commercial pop.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) NPR describes it as leaning "fully into a mainstream pop persona for the first time in almost a decade".[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash)
**Interpolations.** The album weaves older songs into new material. "Beg for You" interpolates September's 2005 hit "Cry for You", and "Used to Know Me" interpolates Robin S.'s "[Show Me Love](https://www.edgepedia.org/show-me-love-robin-s-song)".[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) • [8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) Charli XCX told NPR that "Used to Know Me" was written during the pandemic and originally sounded very different, and that the interpolations were framed as commentary on what a stereotypical major-label album looks like in 2022 amid TikTok-driven demand for familiarity.[4](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash) Pitchfork also notes additional references to a "sweet escape" and the [Backstreet Boys](https://www.edgepedia.org/backstreet-boys)' "I Want It That Way", a song Charli covered in early live shows.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/)
## Release and editions
The standard album was released on 18 March 2022 as an Asylum Records UK release, ℗ 2022 Warner Music UK Limited, with tracks 2 and 3 carrying a 2021 line.[2](https://open.spotify.com/album/1QqipMXWzJhr6yfcNKTp8B) The 12-track standard tracklist is: Crash, New Shapes, Good Ones, Constant Repeat, Beg For You (feat. [Rina Sawayama](https://www.edgepedia.org/rina-sawayama)), Move Me, Baby, Lightning, Every Rule, Yuck, Used To Know Me, and Twice.[3](https://wmg.jp/charlixcx/discography/25718) AllMusic lists the label as Atlantic with catalog number 9029640999 and a duration of 33:48, while the [Official Charts Company](https://www.edgepedia.org/official-charts-company) and Discogs list the label as Asylum; the Spotify and chart attributions to Asylum/Warner Music UK are used here.[11](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/crash-mr0005534503) • [5](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) • [9](https://www.discogs.com/release/23103671-Charli-XCX-Crash)
Physical editions include limited red opaque and black marbled, and gray, LPs (catalog 0190296409981) and a limited cassette (0190296409943).[9](https://www.discogs.com/release/23103671-Charli-XCX-Crash) A deluxe edition featuring four new tracks was released.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) Metacritic's track listing names the bonus tracks "What You Think About Me", "How Can I Not Know What I Need Right Now", "Sorry If I Hurt You", and "Selfish Girl".[12](https://www.metacritic.com/music/crash/charli-xcx)
## Critical reception
Contemporary critics read the album through its concept. Pitchfork described it as having "the range of a greatest-hits compilation, with kinetic pop-funk and textured dream-pop as well as banging Eurodance and post-internet glitch".[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) The Guardian's review framed Crash as simultaneously a "great pop record" with an 80s sonic flavor and a "commentary on what a pop star is".[7](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/19/charli-xcx-people-who-take-it-too-far-are-better-than-people-who-dont) At year's end, The Guardian ranked Crash number 4 in its 50 best albums of 2022, describing how, on her fifth album and last on her contract, she decided to embrace the trappings Atlantic had to offer, "to make a major-label album in the major label way".[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/20/the-50-best-albums-of-2022-no-4-charli-xcx-crash) The same piece described "Beg for You" as sounding "knowingly dead behind the eyes, as any 2000s Eurodance banger should", and "Yuck" as a cheerleader-chant song that could have been a [Doja Cat](https://www.edgepedia.org/doja-cat) hit.[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/20/the-50-best-albums-of-2022-no-4-charli-xcx-crash)
## Commercial performance
Crash became Charli XCX's first UK number-one album, peaking at number 1 on the Official Albums Chart with a first chart date of 31 March 2022 on the Asylum label (catalog number 0190296409998).[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) • [1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) It spent one week at number 1, two weeks in the [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40), and four weeks in both the Top 75 and Top 100, its run running 1, 24, 50, and 75 across four weekly charts.[5](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/charli-xcx-crash/) In the same week it also topped the charts in Ireland and Australia.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) The album was the week's biggest vinyl seller in the UK, with 70 percent of its total sales on physical formats, according to the Official Charts Company.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915)
## Place in Charli XCX's catalog
Crash sits between the experimental Charli (2019) and the Mercury Prize-nominated How I'm Feeling Now on one side and her earlier albums True Romance and Sucker on the other.[1](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915) Pitchfork's reading is that the album distills the styles of True Romance, Sucker, Pop 2, and How I'm Feeling Now into one record.[8](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/)
## References
1. [Charli XCX crashes the charts with first number one album, BBC News](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60879915)
2. [CRASH – Album by Charli xcx, Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/1QqipMXWzJhr6yfcNKTp8B)
3. [チャーリーxcx / Charli xcx「クラッシュ / CRASH」, Warner Music Japan](https://wmg.jp/charlixcx/discography/25718)
4. [Charli XCX talks new album 'Crash,' her fans, selling out, NPR](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/18/1087238345/i-love-selling-out-charli-xcx-on-the-volatile-pop-of-crash)
5. [CRASH – CHARLI XCX, Official Charts Company](https://www.officialcharts.com/albums/charli-xcx-crash/)
6. [The 50 best albums of 2022: No 4 – Charli XCX: Crash, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/20/the-50-best-albums-of-2022-no-4-charli-xcx-crash)
7. [Charli XCX: 'People who take it too far are better than people who don't', The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/19/charli-xcx-people-who-take-it-too-far-are-better-than-people-who-dont)
8. [Charli xcx: Crash Album Review, Pitchfork](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/charli-xcx-crash/)
9. [Charli XCX – Crash, Discogs](https://www.discogs.com/release/23103671-Charli-XCX-Crash)
10. [CRASH – Album by Charli xcx, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/crash/1592545087)
11. [Crash – Charli xcx, Release Info, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/crash-mr0005534503)
12. [CRASH by Charli xcx Reviews and Tracks, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/crash/charli-xcx)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical works and recordings › Albums and recorded releases › Studio albums › Pop albums › 2020s albums › Albums by British and Irish artists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license