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"Click" is a song by English singer Charli XCX featuring German singer Kim Petras and Estonian rave rapper Tommy Cash from Charli XCX's third studio album Charli (2019).

Composition

A rap and hyperpop paean, it features heavy use of Auto-Tune, creating a sound that Vulture described as a "mindfuck". Petras' verse was described by Paper as "possibly the most bombastic 60 seconds in her discography to date." Her verse builds up to "one of the most exciting climaxes of the entire record, cushioned by a question of silence and torn to shreds by a mind-bending drum sample."

The final 30 seconds of the song contains "distorted blaring noise taking listeners by surprise" and earned commentary from multiple critics.

Reception

Stereogum called the song "the sort of track that only Charli could pull off, silly and serious at the same time, making the 30 seconds before you pull up to a party sound like the end of the world." Paper called the final 30 seconds of the track "uncomfortable and restricting on top of being nearly painful if your volume's turned up loud enough." Speaking of the same sequence, Pitchfork called it a "montage of jagged and distorted Sophie-like sounds not dissimilar to farts". According to The Ticker, "This abrasive sound on 'Click' isn't rare for Charli XCX or PC Music, but the bratty verses from Kim Petras and the English singer drive the piercing production with an equal amount of punch that makes it stick out, even on such a sonically focused record like Charli."

No Boys remix

"Click (No Boys remix)"
Single by Charli XCX featuring Kim Petras and Slayyyter
Released	11 October 2019 (2019-10-11)
Length	3:51
Label	Asylum Atlantic UK
Songwriter(s)	Charlotte Aitchison Catherine Garner Dylan Brady Alexander Guy Cook Jaan Rothenberg Theron Thomas
Producer(s)	A. G. Cook Dylan Brady umru Ö Charli XCX (exec.)
Charli XCX singles chronology
"Flash Pose" (2019) "Click (No Boys remix)" (2019) "White Mercedes" (2019)
Kim Petras singles chronology
"How It's Done" (2019) "Click (No Boys Remix)" (2019) "Reminds Me" (2020)
Slayyyter singles chronology
"Cha Ching" (2019) "Click (No Boys Remix)" (2019) "2003" (2019)

On 11 October 2019, an official remix entitled "Click (No Boys Remix)" was released. The remix keeps Petras' verse from the original, but replaces Tommy Cash with American singer Slayyyter.

Background and composition

The idea of a remix was proposed to Charli by a fan in a Twitter Q&A in September 2019. She quote-retweeted it with "Omg this is a v cool idea ... @slayyyter what do u think?" [sic], to which Slayyyter replied "OMG DOWN." Charli started teasing the remix on her Twitter account on 11 October 2019. It was released the same day, but due to technical issues it wasn't available anywhere outside of the United Kingdom. It got released worldwide on 14 October.

According to Billboard, "the remix maintains the same glitching energy as the original album track, while also offering up a ripe opportunity for Slayyyter to deliver her own spin on the song's rap verse."

Critical reception

Paper's Tiffany Leung said of Slayyyter's "cute" verse, "Her contribution enhances the track's powerful female presence, making it an official girl-power anthem." She went on to call Charli, Petras and Slayyyter "your favorite internet-savvy Gen Z pop girlies". Salvatore Maicki of The Fader thought it was "fitting that gay rights would prevail with a new megawatt Charli XCX collaboration" since its release date marked National Coming Out Day.

Personnel

Credits taken from Tidal.

• Charli XCX — vocals, songwriting, executive producer
• Kim Petras — vocals
• Slayyyter — vocals, songwriting
• Niko Battistini — assistant mixing
• Dylan Brady — production, songwriting, drum programming, sound effects, synthesizer
• Joe Burgess — assistant mixing
• Tommy Cash — engineering, vocal engineer
• A. G. Cook — production, songwriting, programming, engineering, executive producer
• Stuart Hawkes — mastering
• Aaron Joseph — engineering
• ö — production, programming
• Geoff Swan — mixing
• Theron Thomas — songwriting
• umru — production, songwriting, bass, drum programming, engineering, sequencer synthesizer, vibes

C2.0

On 15 May 2020, a new remix titled "C2.0" was released as part of her fourth studio album How I'm Feeling Now.

Background

In a track-by-track breakdown on Apple Music, Charli has said about the track:

A. G. sent me this beat at the end of last year called "Click 2.0"—which was an updated version of my song "Click" from the Charli album. He had put it together for a performance he was doing with Caroline Polachek. I heard the performance online and loved it, and found myself listening to it on repeat while—and I’m sorry, I know this is so cheesy—driving around Indonesia watching all these colours and trees and rainbows go by. It just felt euphoric and beautiful. Towards the end of this recording process, I wanted to do a few more songs and A. G. reminded me of this track. The original "Click" features Tommy Cash and Kim Petras and is a very braggy song about our community of artists. It’s talking about how we’re the shit, basically. But through this, it’s been transformed into this celebratory song about friendship and missing the people that you hang out with the most and the world that existed before.

References

1. Hermes, Will (12 September 2019). "Review: Charli XCX, with friends, maps pop's future on "Charli"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
2. Damshenas, Sam (18 March 2022). "Charli XCX: All seven albums from True Romance to Crash ranked". Gay Times. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
3. Jenkins, Craig (13 September 2019). "Charli XCX Is Making Pop for Our Doomed Future". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
4. ^ Wetmore, Brendan (16 September 2019). "Charli XCX Dissects Her Album, Track by Track". Paper. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
5. Benson, Francesca (22 September 2019). "Album Review: Charli XCX – Charli". Redbrick. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
6. Retting, James (11 September 2019). "Premature Evaluation: Charli XCX Charli". Retrieved 17 October 2019.
7. Kim, Michelle (13 September 2019). "Charli XCX: Charli". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2019-09-13. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
8. Larsen, Sven (23 September 2019). "Charli marries past and future of pop music with unique sound". The Ticker. Archived from the original on 2021-04-21. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
9. Bulut, Selim (15 October 2019). "Charli XCX, Kim Petras, and Slayyyter join forces on 'Click' remix". Dazed. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
10. ^ Daw, Stephen (14 October 2019). "Charli XCX Teams Up With Kim Petras & Slayyyter for 'No Boys' Remix of 'Click': Listen". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2019-10-15. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
11. @charli_xcx (11 October 2019). "Click remix ft @slayyyter.... into it?" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 October 2019 – via Twitter.
12. @charli_xcx (12 October 2019). "CLICK "NO BOYS" REMIX FT @SLAYYYTER OUT NOW! STREAM. PARTY. LIVE UR BEST LIFE. spoti.fi/33A1TsD" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 October 2019 – via Twitter.
13. @charli_xcx (13 October 2019). "apparently the Click remix will be out everywhere by tomorrow - i'm annoyed it's not out by now. Like, wtf. Everyone rushed to make this happen. Just put it on all the fucking services like I requested. annoying. anyways. tomorrow I guess if u haven't got it yet" (Tweet). Retrieved 20 October 2019 – via Twitter.
14. Leung, Tiffany (15 October 2019). "Hear What Happens When Charli XCX Kicks Boys Out of the Studio". Paper. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
15. Maicki, Salvatore (14 October 2019). "Charli XCX, Kim Petras, and Slayyyter's "Click" remix is finally here". The Fader. Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
16. "Click (feat. Kim Petras and Slayyyter) [No Boys Remix] by Charli XCX". Tidal. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
17. "how i'm feeling now by Charli XCX". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 2020-06-17. Retrieved 2020-05-15.

• Charli XCX songs
• Kim Petras songs
• Tommy Cash songs
• 2019 songs
• Songs written by Charli XCX
• Songs written by Theron Thomas
• Songs written by Dylan Brady
• Songs written by A. G. Cook
• Hyperpop songs