Sucker (album)

Background

In 2013, Charli released her first major studio album, True Romance. The album received positive reviews by music critics, who praised its unique style. However, the album failed to chart on major markets. On 13 March 2014, she revealed to Complex that she had begun working on her second album with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. Stargate duo and John Hill were also confirmed as producers. In an interview with DIY magazine, she stated that she wrote the record for girls and wants them to feel "a sense of empowerment". Charli explained in her tour diary with Replay Laserblast that the record's genre is still pop, but has "a very shouty, girl-power, girl-gang, Bow Wow Wow" feel to it at the same time. She also said in an interview with Idolator that Sucker would be influenced by The Hives, Weezer, the Ramones and 1960s yé-yé music.

On 7 January 2015, it was announced that the European release of the album would be pushed back yet again to 16 February 2015, featuring a revised track listing, including the new version of "Doing It" featuring Rita Ora, as well as the tracks "So Over You" and "Red Balloon".

Promotion

XCX's first high-profile performance of "Boom Clap" was at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show. She later sang "Boom Clap", followed by "Break the Rules", at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, the American Music Awards of 2014, and on Saturday Night Live. In support of the album, Charli embarked on the Girl Power North America Tour in 2014. The tour kicked off in Orlando, Florida on 26 September and concluded in San Francisco, California on 25 October. She also performed the tracks from Sucker as part of her set for the Jingle Ball Tour 2014, and supported Katy Perry on European dates of her Prismatic World Tour in February and March 2015. Charli further promoted the album by embarking on an eight-date UK tour in 2015, which kicked off in Brighton on 24 March and ended in Birmingham on 2 April.

Singles

"Boom Clap", the first single released from Sucker, was released worldwide on 17 June 2014. It was originally part of the soundtrack album for The Fault in Our Stars. The song was a commercial success, peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has since sold more than one million copies in the United States, receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. There are two existing mixes of this song: the first and original one is heard on the film, the film's soundtrack, and the music video shot in Amsterdam; the second mix is heard on the music video shot in Japan and in this album.

"Break the Rules" was released as the second single from the album. The song and its accompanying music video were released on 25 August 2014. The song was moderately successful, reaching number four in Germany, number six in Austria, number 10 in Australia and the top 40 in Belgium, France, Norway and in Charli's native UK. Moreover, the song peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100, her second consecutive entry on the chart.

"Doing It" was released on 6 February 2015 as the album's third single. The single version features English singer Rita Ora. Details of the collaboration first emerged when a setlist for BBC Radio 1 appeared on Twitter which featured the song. It peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

"Famous" was released on 10 May 2015 as the fourth single from the album. The music video was released on 23 March 2015.

Other songs

The tracks "London Queen" and "Gold Coins" premiered in advance of the album's release on 6 October and 17 November 2014, respectively. A music video for the song "Breaking Up" was released on 2 December 2014.

In November 2014, the album's European bonus track "Red Balloon" was used in a trailer for the 2015 animated film Home. The song was also included on the film's soundtrack, curated by Rihanna.

Critical reception

Sucker received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Sucker received an average score of 75, based on 25 reviews. In rating the release four stars for Rolling Stone, Will Hermes claims "Sucker is no retro gesture: Charli runs the album's rock & roll guitars and attitude through enough distressed digital production and thumb type vernacular to make this the first fully updated iteration of punk pop in ages... Like so many of the pop pleasures here, it's a sentiment that just never gets old." Miles Raymer writing for Entertainment Weekly in an A- review, suggests "SUCKER is pop-punk, radically redefined and dragged, middle fingers waving, into the future." A three out of four star review came from USA Today by Brian Mansfield, where he pens "On Sucker, XCX doesn't just tweak the ear-candy pop template, she blows it up, then pries the shiniest bits from the asphalt. It's still sweet once she's finished sticking it back together, but it's got a bit of crunch, too." In a four star review for AllMusic, Heather Phares says "Sucker's mix of youth and sophistication is more than a little volatile, and sometimes it feels like XCX is still figuring out what really works for her music... Nevertheless, it succeeds as an introduction to Charli XCX the Pop Star while retaining her whip-smart songwriting and attitude."

Dan Weiss writing for Spin, presented the album with an eight out of ten, suggests "Sucker is just an exceptionally good pop album... Those are rare enough as it is." A four star review came from Slant, where James Rainis believes "Charli's sophomore effort, Sucker, is the sound of a long-incubating star emerging so fully formed on an international stage that it's difficult to figure that an artist gifted with so much sneering bravado was ever thought of as an underdog... Someone needed to author the aural equivalent of the body shot, and Charli XCX has provided the platonic ideal of just that: a party album charged equally with punkish rebellion, hip-hop cool, and pop universality." Jamieson Cox for Pitchfork Media, who granted the release a 7.6 out of ten, comments "Sucker isn't an endpoint for Charli—she's already talking about her next record, inspired by J-pop and 'intensely weird and childlike'—and it's not her finest work, but it's plenty good enough to rope a cohort of new fans into what's promising to be one hell of a creative ride." Jon Pareles, reviewing positively for The New York Times, emphasizes "'Sucker' is far more direct; it's smart, loud, cheeky, gimmick-loving pop, intent on making every song go bang... The ambition and calculation on 'Sucker' are overt but not a deal-breaker. It's a brittle, professional album full of sonic treats."

Accolades

The album was named the sixth best album of the year by Rolling Stone, who said, "Charli XCX is the pop star 2014 was waiting for: a badass songwriting savant who's the most fun girl in any room she steps into. The 22-year-old artist came into her own with Sucker, a middle-finger-waving teenage riot packed into 13 punky gems. It's a dance party, a mosh pit and a feminist rally – Charli's definitely in charge." Spin ranked it the sixth pop album of 2014, commenting that "Charli's second full-length shaves off the densely layered atmospherics and dreamy soundscapes." Meanwhile, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard listed Sucker as the second best pop album of 2014. The NME listed Sucker as the third two best album of 2015.

Commercial performance

Sucker debuted at number 28 on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 28,907 copies, making it Charli's first album to enter the chart. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 15, selling 5,622 copies in its first week.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the European edition of Sucker.