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May 15, 2020It is no surprise that the sound is full of all the kind of clanking noises and sci-fi effects that have long steered Charli just left of the mainstream. Yet somehow this set of 11 short songs has a directness, immediacy and intimacy that has eluded her before. ... This album showcases the least mannered performances of her career. She makes you feel these songs.
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May 15, 2020“How I’m Feeling Now” is very much a continuation of the innovative futurist-pop her discography has followed over the past five years. ... It also shows this deeply talented and creatively restless artist pushing the boundaries of her music practically in real time (which one can do almost literally via her Instagram and Zoom sessions), and giving tantalizing hints of what might come next.
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May 15, 2020Charli starts and ends with hard disorienting club bangers, leaving the middle of the album space to expose her tenderness and vulnerability while still retaining her futuristic, unpredictable sound and penchant for an irresistible pop hook.
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Oct 19, 2023While how i’m feeling now is by no means Charli’s most genre-pushing work, nor an indication of the creative potential she has left, it will be remembered as a quintessential 2020 album—not just because of its unique recording constraints, but because of the passion, authenticity and work ethic interwoven in every fuzzy beat and every sprightly, lovelorn lilt of Charli’s most intimate vocal work to date.
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May 19, 2020Present and post-lockdown, how i’m feeling now will be a definitive album of its time. Aitchison has captured this space we now all exist in and all its facets.
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Oct 19, 2023If these songs are more off the cuff than before, nothing here sounds unprofessional. Some lyrics have not exactly been sweated-over – “I love you forever, even when we’re not together,” goes Forever – but they chime with people feeling acutely separated from loved ones.
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May 29, 2020While not life-altering, how i’m feeling now is fun, fast and thoroughly listenable. It’s absorbing as a document from a strange period, and its diaristic, vloggy aspects provide an intriguing peek into artistry under pressure.
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May 19, 2020Though she recorded the album in a home studio, Charli didn’t limit her ambition and, as a result, manages to surprise both musically and lyrically throughout.
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May 18, 2020The result is immersive, experimental, bubble-gum, intense and deep with stunning layers – and echoes the lockdown zeitgeist.
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May 15, 2020Wholly a spontaneous offering, entirely DIY in production, and made from the creative confines of whatever was available to the singer in self-isolation; Charli XCX has proved that music really can be made anywhere, with anything, during a period where the world is on pause, and still sounds like the future is hers to play with.
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May 15, 2020A stirring and immediate listen, as Charli takes us with her on her lockdown emotional rollercoaster in real time.
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May 15, 2020Though it lacks the alien opalescence of Charli's best record, how i'm feeling now contains a different sort of thrilling delirium. It's fun and sometimes silly, made on the fly and under a tight deadline. But it's desperate too — a frenzied call for release, an ode to the love that keeps us going, and further proof that no other pop artist today can make the digital sound so disarmingly human.
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May 15, 2020Brimming with the prickling anxiety and stress that’s become commonplace during the pandemic, as well as the comfort Charli XCX has found in a strengthened relationship, it’s a glorious, experimental collection.
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May 15, 2020Listening to it feels like fleeing from a warehouse rave. Just like lockdown itself, How I’m Feeling Now can be overwhelming – panic-inducing, even – when taken as a whole. But there are snatches of brilliance here, and as perhaps the very first album to be produced under lockdown, it is really quite an achievement.
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May 19, 2020More than just an autobiographical document or a manifestation of Charli’s impressive work ethic, How I’m Feeling Now is her answer to questions about the viability of music in a crisis. It works better than anyone could have anticipated.
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May 20, 2020There's a generous informality to the 11 tracks that reveal the affection and impact of her fans, who helped her generate what shows up here.
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May 15, 2020While it may not be the proper sequel to the ambitious Charli, how i'm feeling now's rawness and immediacy give it an appeal all its own. More than just an interesting social media experiment or a way to fend off quarantine boredom, it's an artistic challenge that's true to the very best parts of XCX's music.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 380 out of 424
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Mixed: 15 out of 424
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Negative: 29 out of 424
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May 15, 2020
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May 15, 2020
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May 15, 2020The fact that she made this in only 5 weeks shows how much of a pop powerhouse Charli truly is.