Charli XCX Says New Album Is Not a Rock Record

British pop star Charli XCX said her upcoming album, ‘Music, Fashion, Film,’ is not a rock album despite the use of guitars [1, 2].

The clarification addresses growing speculation about the project's sonic direction and highlights a broader shift in how modern artists categorize their work. As digital production tools become more accessible, the traditional boundaries between pop, rock, and electronic music continue to blur.

Speaking during a Rolling Stone cover story interview in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, the singer said the misconceptions surrounding the new record ^[1]. While some lyrics, such as "I think the dancefloor is dead, so now we're making rock music," suggested a pivot to a specific genre, the artist said that the presence of certain instruments does not define the entire project [1, 3].

"I think I've just made an album that has guitars," Charli XCX said ^[2].

She said that the internet has fundamentally changed how music is produced and consumed, leading to a more cross-pollinated landscape. This environment allows artists to pull from various influences without adhering to a single label, a process she views as a move away from binary thinking ^[2].

"I don't think of genre in this binary way… Things are so cross‑pollinated now because of the internet and how much access people have to make music at home," she said ^[2].

The artist's comments contrast with some external interpretations of her lyrics, but they align with her career-long approach to blending hyper-pop with other experimental sounds [1, 3]. By rejecting the "rock" label, she suggests that the album is an exercise in fluidity rather than a commitment to a specific historical genre.