"Forever" is a song written and recorded by British singer

Charli XCX Charlotte Emma Aitchison (born 2 August 1992), known professionally as Charli XCX, is an English singer and songwriter. Born in Cambridge and raised in Start Hill, Essex, she began posting songs on Myspace in 2008, which led to her discovery ...

from her fourth album, ''

How I'm Feeling Now ''How I'm Feeling Now'' (stylized in all caps on physical releases, in all lowercase on streaming services) is the fourth studio album by English singer and songwriter Charli XCX, released on 15 May 2020. Released eight months after her previous ...

'' (2020). Charli XCX produced the song with

A. G. Cook Alexander Guy Cook (born 23 August 1990) is an English music producer, singer, songwriter and the head of the UK record label PC Music. Cook released his first solo singles in 2014. He has also collaborated with PC Music artists such as Hannah ...

and

BJ Burton BJ Burton is an American record producer, songwriter, engineer, and mixer. He is known for his work with Bon Iver, Francis and the Lights, Low, Charli XCX, and The Japanese House, and has also worked with the likes of Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, ...

, and it was released on 9 April 2020, by

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

as the lead single from the album. "Forever" is a pop,

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

, and

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

song that features

dark wave Dark wave (also typeset as darkwave) is a music genre that emerged from the new wave and post-punk movement of the late 1970s. Dark wave compositions are largely based on minor key tonality and introspective lyrics and have been perceived as be ...

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

influences.

Background and release

On 7 April 2020, Charli XCX shared snippets of "Forever" on social media. On 8 April 2020, Charli XCX uploaded three photos of herself, shot by her boyfriend, to her

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account and asked fans to vote for one photo to be the cover. On 9 April 2020, Charli XCX announced that "Forever" would be released at 07:30 PM BST / 11:30 AM PST and premiere on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

as ''

Annie Mac Annie Mac (born 18 July 1978), is an Irish DJ, broadcaster and writer. She hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1, including BBC Switch and ''Future Sounds''. She also DJed in various locations, including hosting her AMP (Annie Mac Presents) ...

'''s Hottest Record in the World. She also announced three official artworks for the single were commissioned. One version was created by American artist

Seth Bogart Seth Bogart (born February 28, 1980) is an American multidisciplinary artist. As a musician, he is known for his solo career, as well as Hunx and His Punx and Gravy Train!!!!. As a visual artist, Bogart's paintings and sculptures have been exhib ...

and used on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

; one version by French artist Regards Coupables, used on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and online music store operated by Amazon. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights man ...

and

Deezer Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline. Created in Paris, Deezer currently has 90 million licensed tracks in i ...

; and one version by American singer-songwriter

Caroline Polachek Caroline Elizabeth Polachek (born June 20, 1985) is an American singer, producer and songwriter. Raised in Connecticut, Polachek co-founded the indie pop band Chairlift while studying at the University of Colorado. The duo emerged from the late- ...

, used on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

. The official music video for "Forever", featuring clips sent in from fans, was released on 17 April 2020.

Composition

"Forever" was written by Charli XCX and produced by

and

. It runs for four minutes and three seconds. Musically, it is a pop,

, and

song that features

and

influences. The song also features "lo-fi beats and luminous synths" with Charli singing about "an everlasting love that will remain even if the relationship fades away or if they're not physically together".

Critical reception

Trey Alston from ''

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

'' called the song a "robotic ballad" that was about "sheer adoration, to the most mechanical degree", in addition to writing that "if toasters listened to songs when they made love,

his song His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

would be on their playlist. Alston described the opening of the song as a "harsh opening of boiling synths ransitioninginto a slightly smoother sore throat of a cyborg who's doing its best impression of a lovestruck human". Alston also felt that the sound was a "Terminator-like landscape". Justin Curto from ''Vulture'' called the song "muted" and "somewhat dissonant", that "would sound right at home tacked on the end of ''Charli''''".'' Lake Schatz of ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

'' described the song as an "emotional number" that " restleswith intimacy issues — especially during this time of social distancing". ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''’s Jem Aswad felt that the song "bears many of the hallmarks of the prolific artist’s work over the past couple of year", including Charli’s two mixtapes. Calling the melody "indelible", Aswad mentions Cook’s trademark "echoing synthesizers" and how Charli uses auto tune as an "instrument in itself rather than as pitch correction". Michael Love Michael of ''Paper'', felt that the message of the song was about " reminiscing about the good times with an ex", and while Charli was "singing about the future, the production and overall feel of 'Forever' couldn't sound more relevant". James from ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

'' described the song as "perfectly goofy and giddy", "something that sounds ephemeral but feels like it will last forever". James also felt that there was "nothing slapdash" about the track, writing that the lyrics talked about a "part of the compressed reality we’re all experiencing: being trapped in close to someone that you care about" as the single "switches between abrasive and elated", " hoosingto embrace happiness in the moment". On their year-end list, ''Pitchfork'' named "forever" as one of the best songs of 2020.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

. *

– vocals, songwriting, backing vocals *

– production, songwriting, drum programming, programming, synthesizer, vocal production, xylophone *

– production, songwriting, drum programming, programming, synthesizer, vocal production * Geoff Swan – mixing * Stuart Hawkes – mastering * Niko Battistini – assistant mix engineer

Charts

Release history

References

{{authority control 2020 singles 2020 songs Charli XCX songs Songs written by Charli XCX Songs written by A. G. Cook Songs written by BJ Burton