Why Charli xcx, A. G. Cook and Finn Keane think bad demos are important

Charli xcx’s new album Music, Fashion, Film features some pretty out-there sounds, and its unique sonic textures are due to the initial bad demos that the were used as a springboard.

Speaking on a new episode of the Tape Notes podcast with producers A. G. Cook and Finn Keane, the trio answer a listener’s question regarding their early ideas, and when they know if something is a little too crazy to pursue or not.

It turns out, the three of them feel nothing is off the table when laying down a new song, and if anything, the weirder their early demos are the better. While they still insist there is an element of quality control and purpose behind every decision, not stifling an early idea caused some of the most unusual tracks to flourish, such as the slow and trudging Card Declined.

Charli explains, “It never sounds strange to me, I think we’re all sort of on the same page [where] sometimes we will make something really bad and crazy but that’s okay. That’s the charm of us working together,” she says. “I don’t think anything particularly freaks us out, and if it does we can laugh about it.”

Cook adds that he believes in the ethos of “first idea, best idea” before Keane weighs in, “All of us are quite happy for the demos to feel quite rough for a while. There’s not this desire to immediately finish it and make it slick.

“If you’re getting too into the production then it kills the momentum of the song and the idea. And it also means you think about the production more and what’s important to keep and emphasise [if you leave things rough for a while], so I really like that way of working.”

Listen to the full podcast episode below:

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Rachel is a DIY musician who began learning guitar and keyboard from her bedroom at 14. She has written news and features for MusicTech since 2022, and also has bylines across Kerrang!, Guitar.com, and The Forty-Five. Though a lover of heavy music, her guilty pleasure is 2000s pop.