XCX’s relationship with dance music stretches over many years, having been remixed by artists including Nina Kraviz (the Christine and The Queens collaboration, ‘Gone’) and Lindstrøm (‘You (Ha Ha Ha)’), among many others. Last year, she collaborated with Tiësto on the single, ‘Hot On It’.

She also was closely associated with the late SOPHIE, having collaborated with the visionary pop producer on her ‘Vroom Vroom’ EP and on tracks like ‘Roll With Me’, ‘Lipgloss’ and ‘Out Of My Head’. In a recent interview with The Face, Charli XCX said that one of the tracks on her new album reflects on her friendship with SOPIE, and the grief she experienced after the artist’s death in 2021. 

Pop and dance have long gone hand in hand, with sounds from trance to drum & bass influencing a long lineage of major artists, and vice versa. Earlier this year, Dua Lipa shared details of her new full-length release, which is a ‘tribute to UK rave culture’. Revisit DJ Mag’s 2022 long-read exploring ‘How pop became the sound of the underground‘.