Number 1 Angel

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Number 1 Angel
Mixtape by
Charli XCX
Released10 March 2017
Recorded2014 • October 2016-early 2017
Genre
Length37:23
LabelAsylum
Producer
Charli XCX chronology
Vroom Vroom
(2016) 		Number 1 Angel
(2017) 		Pop 2
(2017)
Alternative cover
In anticipation of the release of Charli XCX's sixth studio album Brat, the cover art of her discography has been updated on streaming platforms.
In anticipation of the release of Charli XCX's sixth studio album Brat, the cover art of her discography has been updated on streaming platforms.

Number 1 Angel is the third mixtape by English singer Charli XCX, released on 10 March 2017 by Asylum Records. The mixtape contains ten tracks and was created in Los Angeles as a collaboration with producer A. G. Cook, the founder of PC Music.[2][3][4] Several other producers associated with the label also contributed to the mixtape, including Sophie who previously produced Charli XCX's extended play Vroom Vroom. Musically, it has been labeled as avant-pop[5] and electropop.[6]

Number 1 Angel received generally positive reviews from critics. Some reviewers praised its genre-bending sounds and guest appearances, while others found it repetitive.

Background

[edit]

In January 2017, Charli XCX stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that she was planning to release a mixtape before the release of her third album[7] saying: "I just got bored and made a load of songs, so I decided to put them out."[8] In another interview, with 93.3, she told the radio station that she recorded the mixtape in two weeks. She described it by saying, "this is more like crying into the champagne than drinking it", and compared it to her work with Sophie.[9] The mixtape was slated for a February 2017 release[9] but was pushed back due to label conflicts. Charli XCX initially recorded the mixtape without her label's permission, stating that the situation, along with the album delay, had her feeling "frustrated and annoyed".[10]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.2/10[11]
Metacritic73/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
The 4058/10[13]
AllMusic[14]
Crack7/10[15]
Pitchfork6.3/10[16]
Pretty Much AmazingB[17]
Rolling Stone[18]
Tiny Mix Tapes[19]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Number 1 Angel received an average score of 73, based on 5 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.[12] Frank Falisi from Tiny Mix Tapes compared the mixtape to Madonna's early works and described it as "a text for mitigating engagements."[19] At Pretty Much Amazing, Mick Jacobs stated that "Aitchison intelligently pairs her clever lyrics against beats that push genres outward, her filling in the spaces with her hooks and gigantic personality,"[17] whilst Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork wrote that the mixtape "is largely stolen by its guests, like Uffie and Cupcakke."[16]

Writing for AllMusic, Neil Z. Young described the release as, "Yet another sonic shift for the singer, Angel employs tropical bounce, cavernous electronics, and trap-rap influences on ten tracks that are more M.I.A. than Marina and the Diamonds."[14]

Accolades

[edit]
Publication Accolade Rank Ref.
Billboard 25 Best & Worst Album Covers of 2017
Best
[20]
Complex The Best Albums of 2017
12
[21]
Entertainment Weekly Best Albums of 2017
18
[22]
Crack Magazine The Top 100 Albums of 2017
29
[23]
Noisey The 100 Best Albums of 2017
38
[24]
Gorilla vs. Bear Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2017
54
[25]
Rolling Stone 20 Best Pop Albums of 2017
8
[26]
Melty Best Pop Albums of the Year
2
[27]

Impact

[edit]

Retrospectively, in April 2022, Clash's Ana Lamond stated that the mixtape "holds a resilience in its stride, drawing none of its attention to the cries from Sucker Charli XCX fans, pleading for a to return to the more commercial, the more conventional breakthrough days. By no means does the mixtape play things safe, making for a bold attempt in re-defining pop music with its embrace for PC Music."[28]

The song "Britpop" (2024), which was released as the second single from A.G. Cook's album of the same name, contains an interpolation of the tenth and final song on the album, "Lipgloss", which also featured American rapper Cupcakke.

Track listing

[edit]
Number 1 Angel track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Dreamer" (featuring Starrah and Raye)
Cook3:58
2."3AM (Pull Up)" (featuring MØ)
Easy FX3:59
3."Blame It on U"
Cook3:47
4."Roll with Me"
Sophie3:21
5."Emotional"
  • Aitchison
  • Patrik Berger
Easy FX3:53
6."ILY2"
Harle3:16
7."White Roses"
  • Aitchison
  • Cook
  • Bao
Cook3:33
8."Babygirl" (featuring Uffie)
Hill3:53
9."Drugs" (featuring Abra)
Cook3:49
10."Lipgloss" (featuring Cupcakke)
  • Cook
  • Sophie
  • Life Sim
3:54
Total length:37:23
  • A later vinyl release included all ten tracks of Number 1 Angel combined with the ten tracks of Pop 2.[29]

Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[30]

Musicians

  • Charli XCX – lead vocals
  • A. G. Cook – programming (1–3, 5, 7, 9, 10), synthesizer (2, 5), piano (5)
  • MØ – vocals (2)
  • EasyFun – programming and synthesizer (2, 5), piano (5)
  • Sophie – programming (4, 10)
  • Danny L Harle – programming (6)
  • MNDR – backing vocals (8)
  • John Hill – programming (8)
  • Jordan Orvash – keyboards (8)
  • Life Sim – synthesizer (10)

Technical

Charts

[edit]
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[31] 74
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[32] 67
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[33] 6
US Billboard 200[34] 175

Tour

[edit]
Number 1 Angel Tour[35]
Date City Country Venue
2 April 2017 San Francisco United States Rickshaw
12 April 2017 New York City Le Poisson Rouge
20 April 2017 London England Jazz Café
22 April 2017 Paris France Les Étoiles
11 June 2017 São Paulo Brazil Memorial da América Latina

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ EasyFX is a duo formerly consisting of producers A. G. Cook and EasyFun.[1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bulut, Selim (20 December 2019). "The history of PC Music, the most exhilarating record label of the 2010s". Dazed. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. ^ Yoo, Noah (7 March 2017). "Charli XCX Announces New Mixtape Number 1 Angel". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  3. ^ Moore, Sam (7 March 2017). "Charli XCX reveals release date of new mixtape 'Number 1 Angel'". NME. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  4. ^ Bilstein, Jon (7 March 2017). "Charli XCX Unveils Three Bombastic Songs From New Mixtape". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  5. ^ Christopher R. Weingarten (15 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX Commits to Avant-Pop Partnership on 'Number 1 Angel'". Rolling Stone.
  6. ^ Rhian Daly (10 March 2017). "Charli XCX's 'Number 1 Angel' mixtape is more than just a stopgap between records". NME.
  7. ^ Brittany Spanos (9 January 2017). "Charli XCX on Making Album She Could 'Get F--ked Up To'". Rolling Stone.
  8. ^ Kelly Ballhorn (10 March 2017). "Why Charli XCX Decided to Drop a Mixtape Ahead of Her Album". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Charli XCX is dropping a mixtape next month!". DIY. 31 January 2017.
  10. ^ Michael Cragg (14 March 2017). "Charli XCX: the mixtape mystery and a pop career in flux". The Guardian.
  11. ^ "Number 1 Angel by Charli XCX reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Number 1 Angel [Mixtape] by Charli XCX". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  13. ^ Norman-Fyfe, James (23 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX's new mixtape Number 1 Angel proves that she is still ahead of the pop pack". The 405. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  14. ^ a b Yeung, Neil Z. "Charli XCX - Number 1 Angel Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  15. ^ Yalcinkaya, Gunseli. "Charli XCX – 'Number 1 Angel' review: Shallow but addictive". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  16. ^ a b St. Asaph, Katherine (27 March 2017). "Charli XCX: Number 1 Angel". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  17. ^ a b Jacobs, Mick (10 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX, Number 1 Angel". Pretty Much Amazing. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  18. ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (15 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX Commits to Avant-Pop Partnership on 'Number 1 Angel'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  19. ^ a b Falisi, Frank. "Charli XCX – Number 1 Angel". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  20. ^ Cirisano, Tatiana (27 December 2017). "25 Best & Worst Album Covers of 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  21. ^ "The Best Albums of 2017". Complex Magazine. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  22. ^ "Best Albums of 2017". Entertainment Weekly. 6 December 2017. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  23. ^ "The Top 100 Albums of 2017". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  24. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of 2017". Noisey. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  25. ^ "Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2017". Gorilla vs. Bear. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  26. ^ "20 Best Pop Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone Magazine. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  27. ^ Rajona, Wyzman (20 December 2017). "Taylor Swift, Loïc Nottet, Lorde... Les meilleurs albums pop de l'année" [Taylor Swift, Loïc Nottet, Lorde... The best pop albums of the year] (in French). Melty. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  28. ^ Lamond, Ana (15 April 2022). "Charli XCX: Her 17 Best Songs". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  29. ^ Graves, Shahlin (14 April 2018). "Pre-order: Charli XCX's Number 1 Angel / Pop 2 vinyl". Coup de Main. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  30. ^ "Number 1 Angel by charli xcx". Tidal. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  31. ^ "ARIA CHART WATCH #412". auspOp. 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  32. ^ "Charli XCX Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  33. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
  34. ^ "Charli XCX Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  35. ^ "Charli XCX Reveals Number 1 Angel Tracklist, Tour Dates". Spin. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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