Charli XCX seems to be back in the recording studio. This news comes while everyone is buzzing about her rumored disagreements with pop superstar Taylor Swift.
The 33-year-old singer, known for hits like "Apple," dropped a short video on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, October 5. The clip offered a peek inside a recording studio. We saw a sound engineer at a mixing board. String instruments built up a strong sound, then two quick notes finished it. Charli, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, just added a heart emoji to the mysterious post. It left fans guessing what she’s cooking up.
This studio hint from Charli came hot on the heels of Taylor Swift’s 12th studio album, The Life of a Showgirl. Swift’s new record hit shelves on October 3. One song, "Actually Romantic," has many fans convinced it’s a jab at Charli. Even the title seems to playfully nod to Charli’s 2024 album Brat, which features a track called "Everything Is Romantic."
In the first verse, 35-year-old Swift sings some pointed lines. "I heard you called me boring Barbie when the coke gave you courage," she belts out. "High-fived my ex then said you’re glad he ignored me." She continues, "You wrote me a song saying you’re sick of my face / Some people might get offended." Swift really twists the knife in the chorus. She sings, "But it’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me / It’s honestly crazy / All the effort you’ve put in / It’s truly romantic / I really have to hand it to you / No man has loved me like you." Fans quickly put two and two together.
Even though both stars have said there’s no bad blood, fans have long thought Charli’s 2024 song "Sympathy Is a Knife" was aimed at Swift. In that track, Charli sings, "This girl wakes up my insecurities / I don’t know if it’s real or if I’m falling apart. … I don’t want to see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show / Fingers crossed behind my back, I hope they finish soon." The "boyfriend" mentioned in Charli’s lyrics is now her husband, George Daniel. He’s the drummer for the band The 1975. Taylor Swift had a romance with The 1975’s lead singer, Matty Healy, in 2023. This led many fans to believe Swift was the "girl" Charli sang about in "Sympathy Is a Knife." It certainly painted a picture of a potential rivalry.
Charli, however, denied her song was about the "Opalite" singer. She told New York Magazine in August 2024 that "Sympathy Is a Knife" was really about her own worries. "That song is about me, my feelings, and my anxiety," she explained. "It’s about how my brain makes up stories when I feel unsure. It’s about not wanting to be in places where I doubt myself." She added, "Sometimes I’d look at the stage [during a The 1975 show] and think, ‘Oh my God… I’m never going to play these venues.’ That made me jealous." She even told Matty and George this. "Both of them said, ‘Shut up. What are you talking about?’"
In that very same article, Swift spoke highly of Charli’s talent. "Charli’s ear for melodies has wowed me since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011," Swift shared. "Her writing is always a bit wild and very clever. She takes a song to surprising places. She’s done this for over ten years now. I love seeing all that hard work pay off."
As for "Actually Romantic," Swift talked about the song’s inspiration on Amazon Music. This was during the "Track by Track Version" special for The Life of a Showgirl. She described "Actually Romantic" as a song about a realization. "It’s about noticing someone has been in a one-sided, confrontational relationship with you," she said, without naming anyone. "And you had no clue." She continued, "Suddenly, they start doing too much. They start letting you know that you’ve actually been living rent-free in their head. And you didn’t even imagine it." Swift added, "It comes across like this person hates you or has an issue with you. But you take it and accept it as love. You see it as attention and affection." She called it "flattering" that someone would make you part of their world when you hadn’t even thought about them. "It’s truly romantic if you think about it," she concluded.