Charli XCX & Sam Smith, In The City | Song Review 🎵

“In The City,” the first collaboration between pop standouts Charli XCX and the highly decorated Sam Smith, is nothing short of a dance/electro-pop bop.

“In the city, in the dark / In the city, in the dark.” Woo! What about a fabulous first-time collaboration? That’s right! 🎙 Charli XCX and  🏆 Academy and Grammy Award winner 🎙 Sam Smith join forces for the dance-/ electro-pop banger, 🎵 “In The City”.  An exuberant record that clocks in under three minutes, Charli co-produces alongside a star-studded team:  🎛 A. G. Cook, George Daniel, ILYA, and Omer Fedi. As of its release date, Fall is upon us stateside, but “In The City” is giving off those summer vibes.

The production plays a key role in the success of “In The City.” The thudding beat is infectious.  Furthermore, those keys and synth are energetic and vibrant.  Charli XCX provides the vocals to match, dominating the first half of the song: the first verse, refrain, pre-chorus, chorus, and the drop 💧. The chorus is catchy AF:

“I never thought I would find it

But I found what I was lookin’ for

I found it in the…”

Besides the chorus, the repetitive lyrics appearing during the drop stick too. Sam Smith sounds fantastic when they enter the mix in the second verse. Furthermore, their upper tenor complements Charli when they sing together.  The blend on the second refrain, pre-chorus, and final chorus is everything.  Charli concludes this fun gem with the outro where she informs us, “I found it in the dark.” Word. All told, 🎵 “In The City” is a blast!

🎙 Charli XCX & Sam Smith • 🎵 “In The City” • 🏷 Atlantic • 🗓 10.19.23

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Atlantic; OpenClipart-Vectors, PIRO via Pixabay]