Charli xcx, Wink Wink → Song Review

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Grammy-winning pop singer-songwriter Charli xcx is a bad girl no more… maybe…  per her infectious  single “Wink Wink.”

“I used to lick cream off strawberries in the summer / And maybe I fucked your dad.” Um, I beg your finest pardon, Charli xcx?! The Grammy-winning pop singer-songwriter cleans it up in the next line of the first verse from “Wink Wink”: “Just kidding, I’m only saying that for effect.” Shock value is something else! Charli continues her ‘rock’ journey with the third single and eighth track from her seventh studio album, Music, Fashion, Film. Charli xcx wrote “Wink Wink” with Finn Keane.  Keane produced it with A. G. Cook.

“Wink Wink” keeps things short and sweet, running a mere two-and-a-quarter minutes.  That said, Charli xcx excels at brief songs.  She is striking from the get-go, with the talk-singing “fucked your dad” lyric, using it as an example of the bad decisions of her past.  Those decisions also include jumping on a trampoline without underwear, apparently.  Go figure. The second verse keeps the same energy of a ‘changed girl’: “I used to say, ‘Scream if you wanna go faster’ / But then I sold my Porsche / My friend Rostam told me I dressed like a slut / So now I shop at A.P.C.” Noted.  The chorus affirms the newfound maturity:

“Here’s the truth, and I gotta be honest

I’m not a bad girl anymore, I promise

… Wink, wink, wink, wink.”

“Yeah, people can change,” she says, but those winks suggest the badness is still intact! Charli xcx is one of a kind, something she continues to show without a hitch on “Wink Wink”. She brings attitude, playfulness, and singing and talk-singing against an alternative rock backdrop.  All in all, it’s another fun one from Charli xcx.

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