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Apr 09, 2020 By Christopher Roberts Caroline Polachek

On Monday Charli XCX announced her intentions to record a brand new album from scratch while under quarantine and release it on May 15 via Atlantic. Its working title (and perhaps its eventual final title) is how i’m feeling now. Now she has already shared its first single, “Forever,” which was created within the last two days. The single’s artwork comes in three different versions, all based on a photo Charli took of herself this week at home under quarantine. Seth Bogart, Caroline Polachek, and Regards Coupables then created separate versions of the single’s cover. Check out the song below. Above is the Caroline Polachek cover art and below are the covers by Seth Bogart and Regards Coupables.

Charli XCX had this to say about the artwork in a press release: “I’m such a fangirl of all three artists and to collaborate on artwork like this is a new experience for me. I like the idea that the visual language for this project can be interpreted by however someone feels towards the music. The music and the emotions that are generated guide the creative output and anything is possible.”

How i’m feeling now was announced via a Zoom chat with one thousand lucky fans and the full chat has now been posted to YouTube. Charli says she will be co-producing the album with A.G. Cook (who’s in Montana with bad Wi-Fi) and BJ Burton.

Charli XCX had this to say about the album in a previous press statement:

“Hi guys, it’s Charli here. I hope you’re doing whatever it is you need to do to stay positive during this time of completely unknown, unchartered territory. For me, staying positive goes hand in hand with staying creative, and so that’s why I’ve decided I’m going to use this isolation time to make a brand new album from scratch.

“The nature of this album is going to be very indicative of the times because I’m only going to be able to use the tools I have at my fingertips to create all music, all artwork, all videos… everything—in that sense, it’ll be very DIY. I’ll also be reaching out to people online to collaborate with, and I’m going to keep the entire process super open, so that anybody who wants to watch can. I’ll be posting demos, I’ll be posting acapellas, I’ll be posting text conversations with me and any collaborators, I’ll be filming myself in the studio, I’ll be doing Zoom conferences to ask fans or anyone watching for opinions or ideas, I’m going to set up an email address so that fans or anyone can send me beats or references… the whole thing in that sense will be extremely collaborative because anybody who wants to be involved can explore their creativity alongside mine.

“The album is going to come out May 15th, which is kind of soon-ish, I suppose, and there’s a couple of scratch ideas but I’m basically starting from nothing, so hopefully I meet the deadline! The album is called how i’m feeling now, which is a working title but I kind of like it.

“So yeah, that’s it! I can’t wait to start making this, and I can’t wait to share this whole process with you. That’s it—bye!”

Charli XCX released a new album, simply titled Charli, last year via Atlantic.

Read our 2013 cover story article on Charli XCX.

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