Charli XCX, Speed Drive | Track Review 🎵

Pop standout Charli XCX delivers another brief, entertaining, and cute bop from Barbie: The Album with “Speed Drive.”

“Li-i-i-i, i-i, i-i, i-ights / Red lights, red lights, red lights, red lights, yeah.” Who doesn’t love a good summer vibe? A summer bop to turn TF up while the windows are down? 💿 Barbie: The Album promises to be a soundtrack – a compilation album – filled with fun, summer bops.  Adding to the bops released in advance of the album, as well as the highly anticipated film, is 🎵 “Speed Drive” by pop/alternative pop/hyperpop standout, 🎙 Charli XCX.  Much like the 🎙 Nicki Minaj and 🎙 Ice Spice collaboration that preceded “Speed Drive” (🎵 “Barbie World”), the duration is brief – under two minutes.  Even so, Charli entertains us nonetheless on this confident, fun joint. 

🎛 EASYFUN handles the production duties, providing Charli XCX with a respectable backdrop.  She manages to squeeze in two verses, thanks to a quicker tempo.  Her melodic lines are agile and packed with personality.  Charli describes Barbie as being, well, perfection – duh! “Devon Lee smile, teeth a white row / Got a classic, real deep, Van Gogh.” In the second verse, she seems to embody Barbie herself: “What you think about me, I don’t care / I’m a real classic, real deep, Voltaire / The girls who need to know, well, they already know / They’re over there.” Of course, the centerpiece is the chorus, particularly the first two lines: “Ah, Barbie, you’re so fine, you’re so fine you blow my mind / Jump into the driver’s seat and put it into speed drive.”  Will 🎵 “Speed Drive” change your life? No, but it will enhance your summer playlist. It’s C-U-T-E, CUTE!

🎙 Various Artists • 💿 Barbie: The Album • 🏷 Atlantic / Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. • 🗓 7.21.23

[📷: Brent Faulkner/The Musical Hype; Atlantic / Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.; OpenClipart-Vectors, PIRO via Pixabay]