Charli XCX - Pop 2

Pop 2 is the mixtape where Charli XCX stopped playing by major-label rules and pointed pop music somewhere far stranger, reissued on 140 gram vinyl.

Released in 2017, only months after Number 1 Angel, it was executive produced by A. G. Cook and built around warped Auto-Tune, metallic synths and melodies that splinter and reassemble mid-song. At the time it felt like a left turn from a pop star with hits to her name. In hindsight, it reads like a blueprint for the hyperpop wave that followed.

The guest list doubles as a who's who of pop's adventurous fringe, from Carly Rae Jepsen and Caroline Polachek to Kim Petras, Tove Lo and MØ. Backseat, with Jepsen, opens the tape on a glowing, wistful note, and Out of My Head brings in Tove Lo and ALMA for a sugar-rush singalong. Unlock It, with Kim Petras and Jay Park, later found a second life online, while Track 10 closes things with a sprawling, glitch-heavy finale that pulls the whole tape apart and stitches it back together.

Pop 2 laid the groundwork for how i'm feeling now and, eventually, brat. On vinyl it sounds as fearless as ever, proof that the future of pop was hiding in plain sight on a mixtape.