Sucker (Charli XCX album)

Sucker is the second studio album by English singer Charli XCX, released on 15 December 2014 by Asylum and Atlantic Records. The album was met with positive reviews from critics, praising its throwback style, and ended up being included on many year-end lists for best albums of 2014. Sucker spawned the singles "Boom Clap", "Break the Rules", "Doing It" (featuring Rita Ora) and "Famous".

Charli XCX promoted the album through a series of public appearances and televised live performances, as well as appearing on the Jingle Ball Tour 2014. The album was supported by Charli XCX's Girl Power North America Tour, which lasted from September to October 2014. She was also the opening act for the European leg of Katy Perry's Prismatic World Tour in 2015.

Background
In 2013, Charli XCX released her first major studio album, True Romance. The album received positive reviews by music critics, who praised its unique style. However, the album failed to chart on major markets. On 13 March 2014, she revealed to Complex that she had begun working on her second album with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. Stargate duo and John Hill were also confirmed as producers. In an interview with DIY magazine, she stated that she wrote the record for girls and wants them to feel "a sense of empowerment". Charli XCX explained in her tour diary with Replay Laserblast that the record's genre is still pop, but has "a very shouty, girl-power, girl-gang, Bow Wow Wow" feel to it at the same time. She also said in an interview with Idolator that Sucker would be influenced by the Hives, Weezer, the Ramones and 1960s yé-yé music.

On 7 January 2015, it was announced that the European release of the album would be pushed back yet again to 16 February 2015, featuring a revised track listing, including the new version of "Doing It" featuring Rita Ora, as well as the tracks "So Over You" and "Red Balloon".

Promotion


Charli XCX's first high-profile performance of "Boom Clap" was at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show on 24 August. She later sang "Boom Clap", followed by "Break the Rules", at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards, the American Music Awards of 2014, and on Saturday Night Live. In support of the album, Charli XCX embarked on the Girl Power North America Tour in 2014. The tour kicked off in Orlando, Florida, on 26 September and concluded in San Francisco, California, on 25 October. She also performed the tracks from Sucker as part of her set for the Jingle Ball Tour 2014, and supported Katy Perry on European dates of her Prismatic World Tour in February and March 2015. Charli XCX further promoted the album by embarking on an eight-date UK tour in 2015, which began in Brighton on 24 March and ended in Birmingham on 2 April.

Singles
"Boom Clap", the first single released from Sucker, was released worldwide on 17 June 2014. It was originally part of the soundtrack album for The Fault in Our Stars. The song was a commercial success, peaking at number six on the UK Singles Chart and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has since sold more than one million copies in the United States, receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has been certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. There are two existing mixes of this song: the first and original one is heard on the film, the film's soundtrack, and the music video shot in Amsterdam; the second mix is heard on the music video shot in Japan and in this album.

"Break the Rules" was released as the second single from the album. The song and its accompanying music video were released on 25 August 2014. The song was moderately successful, reaching number four in Germany, number six in Austria, number 10 in Australia and the top 40 in Belgium, France, Norway and in Charli XCX's native UK. Moreover, the song peaked at number 91 on the US Billboard Hot 100, her second consecutive entry on the chart.

"Doing It" was released on 3 February 2015 as the album's third single. The single version features English singer Rita Ora. Details of the collaboration first emerged when a setlist for BBC Radio 1 appeared on Twitter which featured the song. It peaked at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.

"Famous" was released on 29 May 2015 as the fourth and final single from the album. The music video was released on 23 March 2015.

Other songs
The tracks "London Queen" and "Gold Coins" premiered in advance of the album's release on 6 October and 17 November 2014, respectively. A music video for the song "Breaking Up" was released on 2 December 2014.

In November 2014, the album's European bonus track "Red Balloon" was used in a trailer for the 2015 animated film Home. The song was also included on the film's soundtrack, curated by Rihanna.

Critical reception
Sucker received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Sucker received an average score of 75, based on 25 reviews. Will Hermes of Rolling Stone stated that "Sucker is no retro gesture: Charli runs the album's rock & roll guitars and attitude through enough distressed digital production and thumb type vernacular to make this the first fully updated iteration of punk pop in ages... Like so many of the pop pleasures here, it's a sentiment that just never gets old." Miles Raymer of Entertainment Weekly commented that "SUCKER is pop-punk, radically redefined and dragged, middle fingers waving, into the future." Brian Mansfield of USA Today wrote, "On Sucker, XCX doesn't just tweak the ear-candy pop template, she blows it up, then pries the shiniest bits from the asphalt. It's still sweet once she's finished sticking it back together, but it's got a bit of crunch, too." At AllMusic, Heather Phares opined that the album's "mix of youth and sophistication is more than a little volatile, and sometimes it feels like XCX is still figuring out what really works for her music... Nevertheless, it succeeds as an introduction to Charli XCX the Pop Star while retaining her whip-smart songwriting and attitude."

Dan Weiss of Spin expressed that "Sucker is just an exceptionally good pop album... Those are rare enough as it is." James Rainis of Slant Magazine viewed the album as "the sound of a long-incubating star emerging so fully formed on an international stage that it's difficult to figure that an artist gifted with so much sneering bravado was ever thought of as an underdog... Someone needed to author the aural equivalent of the body shot, and Charli XCX has provided the platonic ideal of just that: a party album charged equally with punkish rebellion, hip-hop cool, and pop universality." Jamieson Cox of Pitchfork felt that "Sucker isn't an endpoint for Charli [...] and it's not her finest work, but it's plenty good enough to rope a cohort of new fans into what's promising to be one hell of a creative ride." Jon Pareles, reviewing positively for The New York Times, emphasizes "Sucker is far more direct; it's smart, loud, cheeky, gimmick-loving pop, intent on making every song go bang... The ambition and calculation on Sucker are overt but not a deal-breaker. It's a brittle, professional album full of sonic treats."

Accolades
The album was named the best pop album of the year by Rolling Stone, who said, "Charli XCX is the pop star 2014 was waiting for: a badass songwriting savant who's the most fun girl in any room she steps into. The 22-year-old artist came into her own with Sucker, a middle-finger-waving teenage riot packed into 13 punky gems. It's a dance party, a mosh pit and a feminist rally – Charli's definitely in charge." Spin ranked it the sixth pop album of 2014, commenting that "Charli's second full-length shaves off the densely layered atmospherics and dreamy soundscapes." Meanwhile, Jason Lipshutz from Billboard listed Sucker as the second best pop album of 2014. NME listed Sucker as the 32nd best album of 2015.

Commercial performance
Sucker debuted at number 28 on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 28,907 copies, making it Charli XCX's first album to enter the chart. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 15, selling 5,622 copies in its first week. The album's UK sales as of May 2020 stood at 46,667 units.

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the European edition of Sucker.

Musicians

 * Charli XCX – vocals
 * Justin L. Raisen – drum programming, guitars (tracks 1, 3, 10); backing vocals, synthesisers (tracks 1, 3); OP-1 (track 10)
 * Jerry James – drum programming (track 1); bass (tracks 1, 3); backing vocals (track 3)
 * Cashmere Cat – additional programming (track 2); all instruments, programming (track 15)
 * Chris Laws – drums (track 2)
 * Steve Mac – keys (track 2)
 * Dano "Robopop" Omelio – guitars (track 2)
 * Steve Pearce – bass (track 2)
 * Daniel Pursey – percussion (track 2)
 * Macy McCutcheon – additional girl vocals (track 2)
 * Bea Rexstrew – additional girl vocals (track 2)
 * Kirstin Hume – additional girl vocals (track 2)
 * Katie Littlewood – additional girl vocals (track 2)
 * Shags Chamberlain – bass, backing vocals (track 3)
 * Ariel Pink – synthesisers, mouth organ, backing vocals (track 3)
 * Remi Nicole – additional vocals (track 3); backing vocals (track 4)
 * Patrik Berger – all instruments, programming (tracks 4, 5, 8, 12); backing vocals (track 12)
 * John Hill – programming (tracks 4, 5); all instruments (track 5)
 * Markus Krunegård – piano, additional vocals (track 4); all instruments, programming, backing vocals (track 12)
 * Noonie Bao – additional vocals (tracks 4, 7, 14)
 * Matthew Eccles – drums (track 4)
 * Keefus Ciancia – additional keys (track 5)
 * Stefan Gräslund – additional programming (track 5)
 * Rita Ora – featured vocals (track 7)
 * Mr. Rogers – drums, bass, programming (track 7)
 * Ariel Rechtshaid – programming (track 7)
 * Christian Olsson – all instruments, programming (track 8)
 * Greg Kurstin – guitar, bass, keys (track 9)
 * Aaron Redfield – drums (track 9)
 * Naughty Boy – instrumentation (track 11)
 * Benny Blanco – instrumentation (tracks 11, 13); programming (track 13)
 * Martin Stilling – all instruments, programming (track 12)
 * Lars Skoglund – drums (track 12)
 * Andrew Wyatt – backing vocals (tracks 12, 14)
 * Young & Sick – instrumentation, programming (track 13)
 * Sarah Chernoff – backing vocals (track 14)
 * Angel Deradoorian – backing vocals (track 14)
 * Andrew Blakemore – backing vocals (track 14)
 * Mikkel S. Eriksen – all instruments, programming (track 15)
 * Tor Erik Hermansen – all instruments, programming (track 15)

Technical

 * Justin L. Raisen – production, engineering (tracks 1, 3, 10)
 * Jerry James – production (track 1); engineering (tracks 1, 3)
 * Rob Orton – mixing (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 14)
 * Tony Lake – additional engineering (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 12, 14)
 * Caleb Laven – vocal editing (tracks 1, 3)
 * Steve Mac – production (track 2)
 * Stargate – production (tracks 2, 15)
 * Cashmere Cat – production (tracks 2, 15)
 * Chris Laws – engineering (track 2)
 * Daniel Pursey – engineering (track 2)
 * Dave Schiffman – mixing (tracks 3, 8, 10)
 * Patrik Berger – production (tracks 4–6, 8, 12); engineering (tracks 4, 8, 12)
 * John Hill – co-production (track 4); production (track 5)
 * Niek Meul – engineering (track 4)
 * Chris Kasych – engineering (tracks 4, 5)
 * John Morrical – engineering (track 4)
 * Martin Cooke – engineering (track 4)
 * Martin Stilling – engineering assistance (tracks 4, 8); engineering (track 12)
 * Stefan Gräslund – additional production (track 5); production (track 6)
 * Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing (tracks 5, 9, 11, 13)
 * Geoff Swan – mixing assistance (tracks 5, 9, 11, 13)
 * Ariel Rechtshaid – production (track 7)
 * Mr. Rogers – production, engineering (track 7)
 * Josh Gudwin – production, recording (Rita Ora's vocals) (track 7)
 * Christian Olsson – production (track 8)
 * Greg Kurstin – production, engineering (track 9)
 * Alex Pasco – additional engineering (track 9)
 * Julian Burg – additional engineering (track 9)
 * Nick Rowe – vocal editing (track 10)
 * Naughty Boy – production (track 11)
 * Benny Blanco – production (tracks 11, 13)
 * Chris "Anger Management" Sclafani – engineering (tracks 11, 13)
 * Andrew "McMuffin" Luftman – production coordination (tracks 11, 13)
 * Seif "Mageef" Hussain – production coordination (tracks 11, 13)
 * Young & Sick – production (track 13)
 * Rostam – production (track 14)
 * Mikkel S. Eriksen – recording (track 15)
 * Miles Walker – recording (track 15)
 * Phil Tan – mixing (track 15)
 * Daniela Rivera – additional engineering for mix (track 15)
 * Stuart Hawkes – mastering
 * Charli XCX – executive production

Artwork

 * Frank Fieber – design, layout
 * Harry Fieber – illustration
 * Bella Howard – photography