Charli XCX: An apology

Dear Charli XCX,

I am writing to offer sincere apologies after your album "True Romance" was omitted from my Top 10 Albums of 2013. It was supposed to be number four, just behind Beyonce and just ahead of Vampire Weekend. But I forgot.

I would like to assure you that I have already taken myself to one side and had a stern word about this incident; and will be donating up to £2.25p to a charity of your choice in recompense. In addition, I have included the write-up which should have gone into the original Top 10 below.

I apologise to you and your family for the distress you may have suffered as a consequence of this oversight.

Best wishes,
Mark

4) Charli XCX - True Romance

Pop singers have to walk a tricky tightrope between familiarity and innovation. Charli XCX bounds across it like a kangaroo.

True Romance is distinctive, sophisticated, ambitious and ever-so-slightly weird: Bubblegum pop chewed by a goth princess. On the Take My Hand, Charli is the bad-influence best friend ("Why you gotta go to sleep? Don't go to sleep. Let's go out!"); on Set Me Free, she's broken and vulnerable ("I am just crushed in the velvet. My heart is locked in a box".)

But, crucially, she's never less than convincing. What's more, the album is flawlessly sequenced - to the extent that I Love It, her number one hit with Icona Pop, isn't even missed.

By December, Charli had already started work on the follow-up. "I like working really fast," she told me. "That's the best way to write a song. The best ideas are the first ones that come into your head - so why bother thinking of any more?"

I can't wait to hear what she comes up with next.

PS: You can read the full Top 10 here.

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