I’m so glad you took the time to spotlight one of my favorite songs of all time — and definitely a defining track of the pandemic era. I’ve been a longtime fan of this track (and of the A. G. Cook and Charli collaborations more generally), so it’s great to see it featured on Switched on Pop.
A couple of things I wanted to add: “party 4 u” actually predates how i’m feeling now. It was originally conceived during the Number 1 Angel / Pop 2 era (around 2017) and even circulated as a bootlegged live track at the Pop 2 afterparties. Here’s an early version from that time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBpuas_S7E. So the song has a much longer arc than the article suggests — fans had been waiting for an official release for about three years. If you’re curious about that prehistory, this Reddit post does a good job of chronicling it: https://www.reddit.com/r/charlixcx/comments/1isrm47/the_party_4_u_renaissance_a_historical_timeline/
Two of my favorite details about the song:
(1) The sample of applause toward the end. In the context of lockdown, it lands like a ghostly glimpse of what could have been — a phantom memory of Charli performing live, or a nod to the tour dates canceled by the pandemic. It haunts the track like a lost future.
(2) Harmonically, there’s a subtle but striking moment (starting at 2:00) where a half-diminished chord appears (G in the bass, functioning as the #4 in D♭ major). The rest of the song is almost entirely diatonic, so this one moment throws a wrench into the otherwise stable harmonic world — much like the pandemic did for so many.
Also, this behind-the-scenes video is well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-fxkN0kShk. It offers a rare look into Charli and A. G. Cook’s remote collaboration process, including Logic Pro session footage.
Anyway — thanks again for the thoughtful write-up. I have a feeling this track still has more chapters in store for us.
I’m so glad you took the time to spotlight one of my favorite songs of all time — and definitely a defining track of the pandemic era. I’ve been a longtime fan of this track (and of the A. G. Cook and Charli collaborations more generally), so it’s great to see it featured on Switched on Pop.
A couple of things I wanted to add: “party 4 u” actually predates how i’m feeling now. It was originally conceived during the Number 1 Angel / Pop 2 era (around 2017) and even circulated as a bootlegged live track at the Pop 2 afterparties. Here’s an early version from that time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osBpuas_S7E. So the song has a much longer arc than the article suggests — fans had been waiting for an official release for about three years. If you’re curious about that prehistory, this Reddit post does a good job of chronicling it: https://www.reddit.com/r/charlixcx/comments/1isrm47/the_party_4_u_renaissance_a_historical_timeline/
Two of my favorite details about the song:
(1) The sample of applause toward the end. In the context of lockdown, it lands like a ghostly glimpse of what could have been — a phantom memory of Charli performing live, or a nod to the tour dates canceled by the pandemic. It haunts the track like a lost future.
(2) Harmonically, there’s a subtle but striking moment (starting at 2:00) where a half-diminished chord appears (G in the bass, functioning as the #4 in D♭ major). The rest of the song is almost entirely diatonic, so this one moment throws a wrench into the otherwise stable harmonic world — much like the pandemic did for so many.
Also, this behind-the-scenes video is well worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-fxkN0kShk. It offers a rare look into Charli and A. G. Cook’s remote collaboration process, including Logic Pro session footage.
Anyway — thanks again for the thoughtful write-up. I have a feeling this track still has more chapters in store for us.