Charli XCX says star studded Music, Fashion, Film cover was ‘nightmare’ to make
By Casey Cooper-Fiske, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter
Charli XCX has said the cover of her Music, Fashion, Film album featuring former The Velvet Underground musician John Cale, director Martin Scorsese and designer Marc Jacobs was a nightmare to make.
The 34-year-old revealed the cover picture was taken just a day before vinyl records for her album, which was released on July 24, went to print.
She told the BBC: “I will say it was an absolute nightmare yeah, it was really down to the wire because obviously when you’re printing a vinyl you have to get it ready months in advance.
“So there really is, sorry, boring logistics, a cut-off date where you have to have things done if you want the vinyl to come out on the day the album is released.
“And so we were down to like the day before that deadline and you know they’re busy guys, and we were like if one of them is like, ‘oh actually, sorry, can’t make it today, can you do tomorrow?’, even that slight change would have been quite devastating for us.”
She went on to say that the trio did all show up on the day, and that the shoot was “a really emotional moment”.
Charli added: “My best friend Aiden Zamiri (director) was shooting the photograph, and the three of them arrived and they all separately mean so much to me.
“They are my music, fashion, film (heroes) for a number of reasons, but for me, for this record made the most sense (to have them on the cover).
“And so having them all there and working with them in that capacity, it just felt, I don’t know, it was one of those moments where I was like, ‘this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime moment this is probably never going to happen again’ unless I do a remix album, no no that’s probably not happening.
“It was really sweet and overwhelming.”
The singer, whose real name is Charlotte Aitchison, was speaking to the BBC’s Jack Saunders on Charli XCX: Live At The BBC, which features the interview with the star, and live performances of I’m Afraid, SS26, Wink Wink, and No One Lasts Forever from Music, Fashion, Film.
Charli XCX: Live At The BBC is available to watch on BBC iPlayer with the live performances, recorded at Maida Vale Studios, also available to watch on BBC Music’s YouTube channels.
Two of the live tracks are also due to be broadcast on Radio 6 Music’s New Music Fix show from 7pm, alongside an additional interview with the Brat singer.
The singer launched a cultural moment in “Brat summer” with the release of the 2024 album of the same name, causing a frenzy on social media which involved sultry fashion choices inspired by the green and black album cover.
Music, Fashion, Film follows Charli’s Wuthering Heights companion album to Emerald Fennell’s film of the same name earlier this year, as well as her film, The Moment, a semi-fictional look at the release of Brat and the world tour that followed.
She has also appeared in other film projects this year including Pete Ohs’s Erupcja and Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights Of Hero.
Charli has had two UK number one singles and four number one albums, and is best known for tracks such as Boom Clap, Guess and I Love It with Swedish duo Icona Pop.
