Charli XCX threw this party 4 us

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Five years ago, Charli XCX released the track "party 4 u," a melancholic ode to throwing a function for that one specific person. Now, in 2025, the song has gotten a renewed life – motivated by a foolproof cocktail of TikTok trends, the Billboard Hot 100, and a post-Brat Summer clamor for Charli. It's rare for pop songs like this to get a second wind. So, on this episode of Switched On Pop, Reanna, Nate, and Charlie put on our detective hats on to dissect the five-minute song's vocals, textures, and structures to understand just why people are reconnecting with it, half a decade later. Songs discussed: Charli XCX – party 4 u Charli XCX – claws Charli XCX – 4 in the Morning Charli XCX – anthems Lesley Gore – It's My Party Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for Switched on Pop comes from Sonos.
0:02.9	Sonos wants to know where do you take your music?
0:05.9	Personally, I take my music everywhere.
0:08.6	It's with me on my commute.
0:10.4	It's with me when I'm cooking dinner, cleaning up, working, doing just about anything.
0:15.6	Makes sense.
0:16.5	I'm a music journalist.
0:17.4	For you, wherever you listen, you can experience high quality, balanced sound at any
0:21.9	volume, anytime with Sonos, whether you're enjoying a podcast inside or taking your music on
0:27.1	the go with the Sonos Ace headphones.
0:29.6	Sonos can bring your sound to life.
0:31.4	Visit sonos.com to learn more.
0:37.0	Stage on the... Welcome to Switch on Pop. I'm producer Rihanna
0:45.9	I'm songwriter Charlie Harding and I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
0:49.9	So I went to Coachella this year and while I was there, pop music's It Girl, Charlie X-C-X, took the stage and very loudly and publicly declared that the theme of last year, as we know it, is dead and gone.
1:04.3	Brat Summer is officially over.
1:07.0	Rana, you should probably refresh Nate, who sometimes keeps his head under a rock about these major cultural trends, Brett Summer.
1:13.0	I object and reject the assertion.
1:16.4	I am well aware of Brat Summer, the phenomenon surrounding Charlie X, CX's lime, or slime green, I should say, album of the same title, which birthed such
1:29.2	summer hits as 360, 365, Club Classics,
1:33.2	which resulted in the regrettable, perhaps, tweet,
1:36.7	Kamala is Brat, which entered the zeitgeist in a way
	...

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