Charli XCX admits she resolved a ‘tricky situation’ by collaborating with Lorde on Girl, So Confusing remix – after missing out on a spot in Spotify’s Wrapped’s Top 10 despite THAT viral Brat success

Charli XCX has revealed she resolved a ‘tricky situation’ with fellow hitmaker Lorde by collaborating with her on their remix Girl, So Confusing.

Gracing the cover of Variety’s Hitmakers issue, the star, 32, admitted they were able to fix some ‘public misunderstandings’ by joinng forces on the track, after she feared that the song could sever their friendship.

She said: ‘For Girl, So Confusing, the second I wrote it I was like, ‘’I need Ella [Lorde] to be on a remix of this song.’’ But I didn’t know how to approach it because obviously it’s a tricky situation. 

‘And when I finally did, she actually suggested, ‘’Maybe I should do a verse.’’ Within 24 or 48 hours she came back with that incredible verse, which made me really, really emotional.’

Charli previously shared fears that Lorde would ‘never speak to her again’ after failing to tell the Ribs singer about her song Girl, So Confusing. 

She explained to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 that she didn’t tell her pal about the track, that is said to be about their relationship, until the day before its release.

The star (pictured with Lorde) admitted they were able to fix some ‘public misunderstandings’ by joinng forces on the track, after she feared that the song could sever their friendship 

She said: ‘For Girl, So Confusing, the second I wrote it I was like, ‘’I need Ella [Lorde] to be on a remix of this song.’’ But I didn’t know how to approach it because obviously it’s a tricky situation’

‘I was ready for her to never speak to me again. That could have been an outcome.

In the track she sings: ‘Sometimes I think I might hate you / Maybe you just wanna be me and ‘People say we’re alike / They say we’ve got the same hair / We talk about making music / But I don’t know if it’s honest.’

The Boom Clap hitmaker confirmed the record touches on the ambivalent feelings she had toward the 27-year-old over their careers.

During her Variety interview, Charli also reflected on the success of her latest album Brat, which sparked a nationwide viral frenzy.

She said: ‘Usually when I’ve made a record, there is this transitional phase [after it’s recorded] where I’m thinking about how to present the music. 

‘But with this one, I actually did that first—I was thinking about marketing before I was making the music. 

‘I had the title first, which was such a brief and a super-useful writing tool. It put boundaries on the songwriting, because immediately if I was writing a song with [longtime collaborators] A.G. Cook or Cirkut, it would just immediately be like, ‘’That’s not brat,’’ and we would move on and do something that was brat.’

‘The whole idea of being a brat is interesting to me, because why are people brats? Why do people act out and be difficult and misbehave?

During her Variety interview, Charli also reflected on the success of her latest album Brat, which sparked a nationwide viral frenzy

And following the online success of her latest album, Charli also shared that she’s hoping to delve into meatier acting roles in the future

‘I think it’s because sometimes you’re overcompensating for insecurity or feeling uncomfortable, and I think that’s where the two fit together.’

On her album, Charlie also joined forces with Ariana Grande for a remix of their song Sympathy Is A Knife, and she admitted the Wicked star ‘gravitated’ towards the song.

‘She had a lot to say. We went back and forth on the lyrics, talking about all the knives that we both felt in this industry,’ she said.

The star added that she now feels she’s ‘at a crossroads’ when it comes to her stardom, saying: ‘I think, in my life now, where obviously my music has…yeah, reached this new level of success, I suppose. 

‘A lot has changed for me with this record, and I do experience things like people taking my photo when I don’t necessarily want them to, or feeling like people in the room are watching me. 

‘Sometimes I love that feeling and sometimes I don’t, so I don’t think there’s really a cut-and-dried answer.’

And following the online success of her latest album, Charli also shared that she’s hoping to delve into meatier acting roles in the future.

Her upcoming acting credits include Benito Skinner’s upcoming Amazon comedy series Overcompensating, as well as three indie films: Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, starring Olivia Wilde and Cooper Hoffman; Daniel Goldhaber’s remake of 1978’s Faces of Death; and Julia Jackman’s graphic-novel adaptation 100 Nights of Hero.

She said: ‘Everything’s been relatively small, and I’m enjoying learning about being on a set and learning from great directors and actors. 

Read the full interview in Variety’s Hitmakers Issue, on sale now

‘I hate it when musicians dive into a different field, head-first, without really researching or learning much of anything about it. So I did a lot of reading to educate myself over the past three or four years before I actually did anything.’

Charli missed out on a place in Spotify Wrapped’s Top 10 Artists Of The Year despite the viral success of her album Brat, being beaten by Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Billie Eilish with the Cruel Summer songstress dominating for a second year in a row.

Charli’s hyper pop-electronic album debuted as the ‘most critically acclaimed record of the year’ surpassing Beyonce’s latest album Cowboy Carter and Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department.

It sparked a nationwide trend branded ‘Brat Summer’, which Charli described as a ‘girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes’.

She also described a ‘brat girl’ as someone who ‘has a packet of cigs, a [lighter] and wears a strappy white top without a bra’.

But despite the impact her latest album had on music and global culture – she even featured as part of Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign – the star has not been able to translate that into Spotify streams. 

Read the full interview in Variety’s Hitmakers Issue, on sale now.