Birmingham O2 InstituteThough her new album is all about collaboration, this avant gardist’s dream has more than enough star power to carry it soloCharli XCX is a fascinating study in self-belief. Backlit, she strikes an attitude in front of an illuminated cube, bookended by more lighting. There is no band: just her, dressed a bit like a flamenco aerobics instructor. A gauzy train streams behind her, which she regularly whips for emphasis when she’s not pummelling the air with her fists.
She cuts even more of a solitary figure because her last album, third outing Charli, contained multitudes. There were so many guest features, you suspected the artist born Charlotte Aitchison in Cambridgeshire 27 years ago was trying to make an ironic point about the current rash of pop hook-ups – a predilection acquired from hip-hop. That, or she was just revelling in excess, a familiar habit for an artist for whom the party never seems to end.