Charli xcx’s album “Music, Fashion, Film” marks a marked shift from the dance-pop sound of “Brat”, using distorted guitars, sparse production and more reflective lyrics. Variety argues that David Cronenberg’s spoken-word contribution to the closing track, “No One Lasts Forever”, crystallises the record’s central concern: whether art and artistic ambition matter in the face of mortality and wider uncertainty.

The 11-track, 30-minute album ends with its longest song, running five minutes and 42 seconds, on which the 83-year-old director begins speaking at around the three-minute mark. Across the album, Charli examines public life, ego, her move into acting and the emotional costs of being an artist, while Cronenberg’s apparent recollection of a near-death experience shifts attention from art towards people and life itself.