Charli XCX - 14 (2008)

Charlotte Emma Aitchison was born on 2 August 1992 in Cambridge, and raised in Start Hill, Essex. While her parents were not very musical, she demonstrated an affinity for music from an early age, being interested in pop acts such as the Spice Girls and Britney Spears, and she began writing songs at the age of 14, writing a song called 'Fish and Chips Shop'. She managed to convince her parents to apply for a loan for her to record her first album '14', and in early 2008, she began posting songs from the album, as well as numerous other demos, on her official Myspace page. This caught the attention of a promoter running numerous illegal warehouse raves and parties in east London, who invited her to perform. She was billed on flyers under the stage name Charli XCX, which was her MSN Messenger display name when she was younger, and despite the illicit nature of the gigs, her parents were supportive of her career and attended several raves with her. In late 2008 promo copies of her album were released, along with two singles, '!Franchesckaar!' and the double A-side 'Emelline'/'Art Bitch', all on her own Orgy Music label. At the time it came out she included a short bio about herself, saying that the songs she writes were about her mates and experiences, and that she played all the instruments and did all the singing, including the backing vocals, but her drumming was a bit shit so she got her producer Darren to drum on 'Lucy'. Her influences at that time were Kate Nash, Hadoucken!, Justice, Crystal Castles, Calvin Harris and things like afro-beatz and other jamz, and the CD came with a 16 page colour booklet, with photos and lyrics to all the songs. Little is known about this album, other than it was distributed to friends, and possibly press, before a full commercial release was cancelled. In the first post of what will be a number of unreleased albums by the young singer, here are the very first songs that anyone would hear from her, and although they are pretty different from what was to come, they show Charli XCX blending together pop and nu-rave in a brash style that embodies her DIY beginnings. 

Track listing

01 !Franchesckaar!
02 Lucy
03 Chas's Song
04 Leave Me
05 I'll Teach You A Lesson
06 Machines
07 Supermodels And Holiday Stunners
08 Watch The Rain
09 Live Life
10 Neon Fashion And Glowstix
11 Mauritius
12 Alcoholic
13 Yet Again
14 14