''Number 1 Angel'' is the third mixtape by English singer and songwriter

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 ...

, released on 10 March 2017 by

Asylum Records Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/As ...

. The mixtape contains ten tracks and was created in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

as a collaboration with producer

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 ...

, the founder of

PC Music PC Music is a record label and art collective based in London and run by producer A. G. Cook. It was founded in 2013, making its music available on SoundCloud that year. Artists on its roster have included Hannah Diamond, GFOTY, Danny L Harle, ...

. Several other producers associated with the label also contributed to the mixtape, including

Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

who previously produced Charli XCX's extended play '' Vroom Vroom''. Musically, it has been labeled as

avant-pop Avant-pop is popular music that is experimental music, experimental, new, and distinct from previous styles while retaining an immediate accessibility for the listener. The term implies a combination of avant-garde sensibilities with existing ele ...

and

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

Background

In January 2017, Charli XCX stated in an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' that she was planning to release a mixtape before the release of her third album saying: "I just got bored and made a load of songs, so I decided to put them out." In another interview, with 93.3, she told the radio station that she recorded the mixtape in two weeks. She described it by saying, "this is more like crying into the champagne than drinking it", and compared it to her work with

. The mixtape was slated for a February 2017 release but was pushed back due to label conflicts. Charli XCX initially recorded the mixtape without her label's permission, stating that the situation, along with the album delay, had her feeling "frustrated and annoyed".

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, ''Number 1 Angel'' received an average score of 73, based on 5 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews. Frank Falisi from ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...

'' compared the mixtape to

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's early works and described it as "a text for mitigating engagements." At ''Pretty Much Amazing'', Mick Jacobs stated that "Aitchison intelligently pairs her clever lyrics against beats that push genres outward, her filling in the spaces with her hooks and gigantic personality," whilst Katherine St. Asaph of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' wrote that the mixtape "is largely stolen by its guests, like

Uffie Anna-Catherine Hartley (born December 9, 1987), known professionally as Uffie (), is an American-French singer, songwriter, rapper, DJ, and fashion designer formerly signed to French electronic music record label Ed Banger Records. Uffie's music ...

and

Cupcakke Elizabeth Eden Harris (born May 31, 1997), known professionally as Cupcakke (often stylized as CupcakKe; pronounced ), is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. She is known for her hypersexualised, brazen, and often comical persona and mus ...

." Retrospectively, in April 2022, '' Clash'''s Ana Lamond stated that the mixtape "holds a resilience in its stride, drawing none of its attention to the cries from ''

Sucker Sucker may refer to: General use * Lollipop or sucker, a type of confection * Sucker (slang), a slang term for a very gullible person * Hard candy ** Cough drop ** Mint (candy) Biology * Sucker (botany), a term for a shoot that arises undergro ...

'' Charli XCX fans, pleading for a to return to the more commercial, the more conventional breakthrough days. By no means does the mixtape play things safe, making for a bold attempt in re-defining

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

with its embrace for

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''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 * Tidal (servic ...

. Musicians *

– lead vocals *

– programming , synthesizer , piano *

MØ Karen Marie Aagaard Ørsted Andersen (; born 13 August 1988), known professionally as MØ (), is a Danish singer and songwriter. She signed a recording contract with Sony Music Entertainment in 2012, releasing her debut extended play, ''Bikini ...

– vocals *

EasyFun Finn Keane, known professionally as Easyfun (stylised in all caps and formerly as easyFun), is a British songwriter and record producer. He is known for his work with Charli XCX; he has songwriting and production credits on her mixtapes ''Number ...

– programming and synthesizer , piano *

– programming *

Danny L Harle Daniel Jack Eisner Harle is a British music producer and composer who records under the alias Danny L Harle. He was formerly signed to the London-based PC Music label and is a member of Dux Content with A. G. Cook. He has produced, composed, a ...

– programming *

MNDR Amanda Lucille Warner (born September 12, 1982), known professionally as MNDR, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. She rose to prominence after being featured on Mark Ronson & The Business Intl's 2010 single " Bang Bang Bang" ...

– backing vocals *

John Hill John Hill may refer to: Business * John Henry Hill (1791–1882), American businessman, educator and missionary * John Hill (planter) (1824–1910), Scottish-born American industrialist and planter * John Hill (businessman) (1847–1926), Austral ...

– programming * Jordan Orvash – keyboards * Life Sim – synthesizer Technical * Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer * Geoff Swan – mixing * Cameron Gower Poole – engineer * Alex Williams – engineer * Rob Cohen – engineer * Ryan Gilligan – engineer

Charts

Tour

Notes

References

{{Authority control 2017 mixtape albums Avant-pop albums Asylum Records albums Charli XCX albums Albums produced by John Hill (record producer) Albums produced by Sophie (musician) Albums produced by A. G. Cook Albums produced by Danny L Harle