Charli xcx experiences “competitive jealousy”.
The 33-year-old singer was jealous after she heard 29-year-old Lorde’s 2013 track, Royals, because Charli wished she had penned it herself.
On a recent episode of 65-year-old Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis podcast, she asked Charli if she experiences “competitive jealousy”.
The Brat hitmaker replied: “Yeah, obviously, of course.
“I think I’ve said this to Lorde before – I was so jealous when I heard Royals for the first time, which is now funny because there’s this whole meme of like everybody’s always yelling at me, ‘Sing Royals!
“But, yeah, when I was younger, and I heard that song, I was like, ‘I’m so jealous. I wish that I could have written that song.’
“I thought it was so spectacular, thought it was so unique, I thought it really defined a time, that song.
“I think so many people since have tried to bottle that essence that Ella really immaculately captured on that song.”
Charli – who collaborated with the star, real name Ella Yelich-O’Connor, on the 2024 track Girl, So Confusing – previously said she compared her music and fashion style to that of Lorde’s.
In 2024, Charli told Rolling Stone UK: “When Royals came out, I was super jealous of the success that that song got, and that Ella got.
“You piece all this stuff together in your brain, like, ‘She was into my music. She had big hair; I had big hair. She wore black lipstick; I once wore black lipstick.’ You create these parallels and think, ‘Well, that could have been me.’
“But it couldn’t have because we’re completely different people. I wasn’t making music that sounded anything like Royals.
“I think you just read what you want into it because you’re feeling insecure about your own work.”
Meanwhile, Charli is gearing up to release her new album, Music, Fashion, Film, on July 24, and she teased that it features one mystery collaboration and fans will struggle to guess who it is.
Appearing on the French TV show Quotidien, the Wink, Wink artist teased: “There is one collaboration. I’m not telling you, but you won’t be able to guess.”
Charli – who put John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese on the cover to represent her heroes in the three respective industries – insisted it is impossible to guess who it is.
She said: “I’d bet money on you not guessing. You can try! You could have 1000 chances, and you still wouldn’t guess.”