Charli XCX in row with ‘boomers' over Glastonbury autotune
The Grammy-winning musician, 32, denied that performing live with the pitch correction software 'makes you a fraud' following social media criticism of her set at Worthy Farm on Saturday night.
Writing on her X account, she said: 'Really enjoying these boomer vibe comments on Glastonbury performance. It's super fascinating to me.
'Like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a 'real artist' is like, the most boring take ever. Yawn sorry just fell asleep xx.'
A number of festival-goers, or those who watched the gig live on the BBC, accused Charli XCX of 'barely singing'.
One wrote on X: 'This Glastonbury set by Charli XCX is one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life. Barely singing, autotune in the rare moments she does sing a bit and horrendous dancing.'
Another wrote: 'One thing I will never understand is why Charli XCX is as big as she is, s—e music, sounds so bad she has to sing with so much autotune every time she performs live. What am I missing here?'
Charli XCX, whose real name is Charlotte Emma Aitchison, responded to the critiques explaining that she 'enjoys the discourse' around the use of autotune.
'The best art is divisive'
She explained: 'Imo [in my opinion], the best art is divisive and confrontational and often evolves into truly interesting culture rather than being like kind of ok, easily understood and sort of forgettable.'
Her breakout album Brat became a cultural phenomenon last year, spawning viral hits, TikTok memes, Collins Dictionary's Word of the Year and three Grammy awards.
The electropop musician has been well-known for her use of autotune in her music, previously stating on Saturday Night Live that it 'makes everything sound better'.
'Today, I consider myself to be a triple threat, which in England means I sing, I drink and I smoke,' Aitchison quipped in her monologue. 'I want to take a moment to thank someone who's been there for me my entire career: AutoTune.'
However, the artist has also spoken about how the software has made her 'lazy' and less able to sing in tune when live.
Speaking on the Tape Notes Podcast with producers AG Cook and George Daniel last year, she said: '[In my] early work, I can – I could sing in tune, but now I think I've gotten so lazy because I sing with autotune all the time.
'Like I never [go], 'I'm not singing with autotune'. Unless I'm doing karaoke, which I actively don't do, for this reason. I'm pretty out [of pitch] because my ear is so used to leaning in.'
However, others watching her set on Saturday night said they 'loved' the use of her autotune.
'She knows her way around it, knows how to sing with it and manipulate it to create this fantastic sound that is entirely unique to her. It's the opposite of lazy, she's incredibly intentional,' one fan said on social media.
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