Charli XCX has shared another B-side from her new album era in the form of the punky ‘Playboy Bunny’ – check it out below.
The song is the “flip side” toher latest single, the gritty, sassy ‘SS26’, which she released on Thursday (May 21). In keeping with her new policy of returning to the traditional pre-streaming system of A-sides and B-sides, now she has shared its companion piece, ‘Playboy Bunny’.
Like the previous single ‘Rock Music’ and its B-side ‘I Keep On Thinking Bout You Every Single Day And Night’, the assumption is that ‘SS26’ will end up on Charli’s upcoming new album, but ‘Playboy Bunny’ will not, instead being exclusive to the vinyl7” single and via her “b.sides” Instagram account.
Explaining the release strategy in a video on that account, Charli said: “The B-sides are sort of like coupled with some of the songs that are coming out ahead of the album. The reason that they’re paired together, these two songs, are because, in ways, they’re totally opposite from each other, and that is find of the main point of them.”
“It’ssort of amirror…there are specifically sonic things about it that are extremely opposite to ‘SS26’and I thinkthat’swhat made it a good B-side, a good pair,” she added.
‘Playboy Bunny’ motors along witha pop-punk energy, with serrated, sampled guitars and distorted vocals, and it comes with a video shot in Paris the day after the ‘SS26’ video was filmed. “Was honestly v hungover lol,” Charli has said of the new video shoot. Watch here, along with Charli’s explanationofthe B-sides concept:
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Like ‘I KeepOnThinking Bout You Every Single DayAndNight’,it appears ‘Playboy Bunny’ will not be released onto streaming platforms, but Charli did encourage fans to “rip the audio” from the Instagram account for thepreviousB-side.
Last month, Charli’s teamconfirmed that she was finishing work on her new album, and shortly afterwards,in an interview withBritish Vogue, the lyric “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music”was previewed. It prompted speculation that the album would take a heavier direction, thoughCharli later clarified, “I never said I was making a rock album.”
‘Rock Music’ then arrived alongside a grungy music video, which saw her enlist collaborators A.G. Cook, Finn Keane (formerly known asEasyfun) and her husband,The 1975‘s George Daniel, as her rock band.
All four new songs have seen Charlidepartfrom the club atmosphere of the 2024 cultural phenomenon that was ‘Brat’, and they follow on fromher soundtrack album for Emerald Fennell’s WutheringHeights, released in February.
As well as working on that soundtrack, the ‘360’ singer alsopenned music for the A24 filmMother Mary,starringAnne Hathaway, starred in her ownmockumentaryThe Moment, took on a role in thenew romanceErupcja, and locked in a role in fantasy100 Nights Of Hero.
She also played a comedic version of herself in the TV showOvercompensating, and was recentlycast alongsideSupergirlstar Milly Alcock in a new horror filmdirected by Takashi Miike.
As for upcoming live dates, this August,she’llreturn to the stage to makeher headline debut at Reading & Leeds, topping the festival bill alongsideFontaines D.C.,Raye,Florence + The Machine,DaveandChase & Status.Visit herefor tickets and more information.