Charli XCX has revealed that new song ‘Talk Talk’ was written about nearly following The 1975’s George Daniel into the toilet at the 2020 NME Awards.
The singer released her sixth studio album ‘Brat’ last week (June 5), and just a few days later shared the deluxe edition, which included three extra tracks in the form of ‘Hello Goodbye’, ‘Guess’ and ‘Spring Breakers’.
Included on the album is ‘Talk Talk’, which Charli has now disclosed was inspired by a moment at the 2020 awards ceremony, at which she was nominated for Best Solo Act In The World, Best British Solo Act and Best Collaboration. She also presented the Songwriter Of The Decade Award to Robyn that night, alongside Christine And The Queens.
“’Talk Talk’ is about a very specific moment where me and my fiancé,” she has said in a post on her TikTok account. “We were not together, but we were definitely very into each other.”
@charlixcx Talk talk. #OffTheRecord for tiktokkk <3 going to be doing a bunch of these hope u love
“We were at the NME Awards, we were both sat on different tables, and we were like texting each other, but we weren’t hanging out. But we were both looking over at each other – it was very like, one of us would look and the other one would look away, and then just vice versa.”
“You know when you just feel like someone is watching you, you can feel a hole burning in the back of your head or something like that,” she continued. “It was very much that moment.”
“In the song, I say, ‘I followed you to the bathroom and I felt crazy’. I did actually do that! I saw that he went to the bathroom, so I was like, oh, I’ll go to the bathroom and maybe we’ll bump into each other and then we won’t be like texting all the time.”
“But then I got halfway there and I was like, this is insane, and then I went and sat down again,” she concluded.
At the same awards show, The 1975 picked up the Band Of The Decade Award, as well as Best British Band and the NME Innovation Award. They also closed out the show with a live performance.
Charli XCX first began working with the The 1975 drummer back in 2021, when they teamed up to record the track ‘Spinning’. They later went on to confirm their romance on social media in 2022, before announcing their engagement in late 2023.
In a four-star review of ‘Brat’, NME wrote: “On the self-described “club record”, XCX offers pure party girl hedonism. Percolating beats, brash synths, left-field production and vocal lines that flit between bratty quips or honest one-liners.”
“With ‘Brat’, XCX demonstrates that going her own way will always sound pretty good,” it added.
Following the release of ‘Brat’, Lorde praised Charli and the album, writing on social media: “The only album I’ve ever presaved is out today. Charli just cooked this one different. So much grit, grace & skin in the game.”
“I speak for all of us when I say it’s an honour to be moved, changed and gagged by her work. There is NO ONE like this bitch. Brava and welcome Brat,” Lorde added.