Number 1 Angel

2017 mixtape by Charli XCX

Number 1 Angel

Mixtape by

Charli XCX

Released| 10 March 2017
Recorded|

* 2015
* October 2016 – early 2017

Genre|

* Avant-pop
* electropop

Length| 37:23
Label| Asylum
Producer|

* A. G. Cook
* Sophie
* Danny L Harle
* Life Sim
* Easy FX[a]
* John Hill

Charli XCX chronology
| Vroom Vroom
(2016)  | Number 1 Angel
(2017)  | Pop 2
(2017)

|
|

Alternative cover

In anticipation of the release of Charli XCX's sixth studio album Brat, the cover art of her discography has been updated on streaming platforms. The cover was reverted back to the original on 30 June 2025.

Number 1 Angel is the third mixtape by British singer Charli XCX, released on 10 March 2017 by Asylum Records. The mixtape contains ten tracks and was created in Los Angeles as a collaboration with producer A. G. Cook, the founder of PC Music.[2][3][4] Several other producers associated with the label also contributed to the mixtape, including Sophie, who previously produced Charli XCX's extended play Vroom Vroom. Musically, it has been labeled as avant-pop[5] and electropop.[6]

Number 1 Angel received generally positive reviews from critics. Some reviewers praised its genre-bending sounds and guest appearances, while others found it repetitive.

## Background

[edit]

In January 2017, Charli XCX stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that she planned to release a mixtape before the release of her third album,[7] saying: "I just got bored and made a load of songs, so I decided to put them out."[8] In an interview with 93.3, she told the radio station that she recorded the mixtape in two weeks. She described the mixtape as a "lot more sad" than her previous work, saying, "this is more like crying into the champagne than drinking it"; she also compared it to her previous work with Sophie.[9] The mixtape was slated for a February 2017 release[9] but was pushed back due to label conflicts. Charli XCX initially recorded the mixtape without her label's permission, stating that the situation, along with the album delay, had her feeling "frustrated and annoyed".[10]

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
AnyDecentMusic?| 7.2/10[11]
Metacritic| 73/100[12]
Review scores
Source| Rating
The 405| 8/10[13]
AllMusic| [14]
Crack| 7/10[15]
Pitchfork| 6.3/10[16]
Pretty Much Amazing| B[17]
Rolling Stone| [18]
Tiny Mix Tapes| [19]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Number 1 Angel received an average score of 73, based on 5 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews.[12] Frank Falisi from Tiny Mix Tapes compared the mixtape to Madonna's early works and described it as "a text for mitigating engagements."[19] At Pretty Much Amazing, Mick Jacobs stated that "Aitchison intelligently pairs her clever lyrics against beats that push genres outward, her filling in the spaces with her hooks and gigantic personality,"[17] whilst Katherine St. Asaph of Pitchfork wrote that the mixtape "is largely stolen by its guests, like Uffie and Cupcakke."[16]

Writing for AllMusic, Neil Z. Young described the release as, "Yet another sonic shift for the singer ... Angel employs tropical bounce, cavernous electronics, and trap-rap influences on ten tracks that are more M.I.A. than Marina and the Diamonds."[14]

### Accolades

[edit]

Publication  | Accolade  | Rank  | Ref.

|
|
|

Billboard | 25 Best & Worst Album Covers of 2017  |

Best

[20]

Complex | The Best Albums of 2017  |

[21]

Entertainment Weekly | Best Albums of 2017  |

[22]

Crack Magazine | The Top 100 Albums of 2017  |

[23]

Noisey | The 100 Best Albums of 2017  |

[24]

Gorilla vs. Bear | Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2017  |

[25]

Rolling Stone | 20 Best Pop Albums of 2017  |

[26]

Melty | Best Pop Albums of the Year  |

[27]

## Impact

[edit]

Retrospectively, in April 2022, Clash's Ana Lamond stated that the mixtape "holds a resilience in its stride, drawing none of its attention to the cries from Sucker Charli XCX fans, pleading for a to return to the more commercial, the more conventional breakthrough days. By no means does the mixtape play things safe, making for a bold attempt in re-defining pop music with its embrace for PC Music."[28]

On April 12, 2025 a new LP edition including a 12" poster and red vinyl was released for the RSD after the original version released in 2017 featuring both Number 1 Angel and Pop 2.

## Track listing

[edit]

Number 1 Angel track listingNo.| Title| Writer(s)| Producer(s)| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Dreamer" (featuring Starrah and Raye)|

* Charlotte Aitchison
* Alexander Guy Cook
* Brittany Hazzard
* Rachel Keen

| Cook| 3:58
2.| "3AM (Pull Up)" (featuring MØ)|

* Aitchison
* Cook
* Finn Keane
* Karen Marie Ørsted

| Easy FX| 3:59
3.| "Blame It on U"|

* Aitchison
* Cook
* Noonie Bao

| Cook| 3:47
4.| "Roll with Me"|

* Aitchison
* Klas Åhlund
* Sophie Xeon

| Sophie| 3:21
5.| "Emotional"|

* Aitchison
* Patrik Berger

| Easy FX| 3:53
6.| "ILY2"|

* Aitchison
* Danny L Harle

| Harle| 3:16
7.| "White Roses"|

* Aitchison
* Cook
* Bao

| Cook| 3:33
8.| "Babygirl" (featuring Uffie)|

* Aitchison
* Amanda Warner
* John Hill
* Sarah Hudson
* Anna Hartley

| Hill| 3:53
9.| "Drugs" (featuring Abra)|

* Aitchison
* Cook
* Gabrielle Mirville

| Cook| 3:49
10.| "Lipgloss" (featuring Cupcakke)|

* Aitchison
* Cook
* Elizabeth Harris

* Cook
* Sophie
* Life Sim

| 3:54
Total length:| 37:23

* A later vinyl release included all ten tracks of Number 1 Angel combined with the ten tracks of Pop 2.[29]

## Personnel

[edit]

Credits adapted from Tidal.[30]

Musicians

* Charli XCX – lead vocals
* A. G. Cook – programming (1–3, 5, 7, 9, 10), synthesizer (2, 5), piano (5)
* MØ – vocals (2)
* EasyFun – programming and synthesizer (2, 5), piano (5)
* Sophie – programming (4, 10)
* Danny L Harle – programming (6)
* MNDR – backing vocals (8)
* John Hill – programming (8)
* Jordan Orvash – keyboards (8)
* Life Sim – synthesizer (10)

Technical

* Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer
* Geoff Swan – mixing
* Cameron Gower Poole – engineer (1, 9)
* Alex Williams – engineer (2, 3, 7)
* Rob Cohen – engineer (8)
* Ryan Gilligan – engineer ( 8)

## Charts

[edit]

Chart (2017)  | Peak
position

|

Australian Albums (ARIA)[31] | 74
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[32] | 67
New Zealand Heatseekers Albums (RMNZ)[33] | 6
US Billboard 200[34] | 175
Chart (2025)  | Peak
position

|

Croatian International Albums (HDU)[35] | 9
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[36] | 43
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[37] | 18
Scottish Albums (OCC)[38] | 7
UK Albums (OCC)[39] | 37
US Billboard 200[40] | 180

## Tour

[edit]

Number 1 Angel Tour[41] Date  | City  | Country  | Venue

|
|
|

2 April 2017  | San Francisco | United States  | Rickshaw
12 April 2017  | New York City | Le Poisson Rouge
20 April 2017  | London | England  | Jazz Café
22 April 2017  | Paris | France  | Les Étoiles
11 June 2017  | São Paulo | Brazil  | Memorial da América Latina

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ EasyFX is a duo formerly consisting of producers A. G. Cook and EasyFun.[1]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Bulut, Selim (20 December 2019). "The history of PC Music, the most exhilarating record label of the 2010s". Dazed. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
2. ^ Yoo, Noah (7 March 2017). "Charli XCX Announces New Mixtape Number 1 Angel". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
3. ^ Moore, Sam (7 March 2017). "Charli XCX reveals release date of new mixtape 'Number 1 Angel'". NME. Time Inc. UK. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
4. ^ Bilstein, Jon (7 March 2017). "Charli XCX Unveils Three Bombastic Songs From New Mixtape". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
5. ^ Christopher R. Weingarten (15 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX Commits to Avant-Pop Partnership on 'Number 1 Angel'". Rolling Stone.
6. ^ Rhian Daly (10 March 2017). "Charli XCX's 'Number 1 Angel' mixtape is more than just a stopgap between records". NME.
7. ^ Brittany Spanos (9 January 2017). "Charli XCX on Making Album She Could 'Get F--ked Up To'". Rolling Stone.
8. ^ Kelly Ballhorn (10 March 2017). "Why Charli XCX Decided to Drop a Mixtape Ahead of Her Album". On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
9. ^ a b "Charli XCX is dropping a mixtape next month!". DIY. 31 January 2017.
10. ^ Michael Cragg (14 March 2017). "Charli XCX: the mixtape mystery and a pop career in flux". The Guardian.
11. ^ "Number 1 Angel by Charli XCX reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
12. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Number 1 Angel [Mixtape] by Charli XCX". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
13. ^ Norman-Fyfe, James (23 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX's new mixtape Number 1 Angel proves that she is still ahead of the pop pack". The 405. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
14. ^ a b Yeung, Neil Z. "Charli XCX - Number 1 Angel Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
15. ^ Yalcinkaya, Gunseli. "Charli XCX – 'Number 1 Angel' review: Shallow but addictive". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
16. ^ a b St. Asaph, Katherine (27 March 2017). "Charli XCX: Number 1 Angel". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
17. ^ a b Jacobs, Mick (10 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX, Number 1 Angel". Pretty Much Amazing. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
18. ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (15 March 2017). "Review: Charli XCX Commits to Avant-Pop Partnership on 'Number 1 Angel'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
19. ^ a b Falisi, Frank. "Charli XCX – Number 1 Angel". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
20. ^ Cirisano, Tatiana (27 December 2017). "25 Best & Worst Album Covers of 2017". Billboard. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
21. ^ "The Best Albums of 2017". Complex Magazine. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
22. ^ "Best Albums of 2017". Entertainment Weekly. 6 December 2017. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
23. ^ "The Top 100 Albums of 2017". Crack Magazine. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
24. ^ "The 100 Best Albums of 2017". Noisey. 6 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
25. ^ "Gorilla vs. Bear's Albums of 2017". Gorilla vs. Bear. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
26. ^ "20 Best Pop Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone Magazine. 12 December 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
27. ^ Rajona, Wyzman (20 December 2017). "Taylor Swift, Loïc Nottet, Lorde... Les meilleurs albums pop de l'année" [Taylor Swift, Loïc Nottet, Lorde... The best pop albums of the year] (in French). Melty. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
28. ^ Lamond, Ana (15 April 2022). "Charli XCX: Her 17 Best Songs". Clash Magazine. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
29. ^ Graves, Shahlin (14 April 2018). "Pre-order: Charli XCX's Number 1 Angel / Pop 2 vinyl". Coup de Main. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
30. ^ "Number 1 Angel by charli xcx". Tidal. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
31. ^ "ARIA CHART WATCH #412". auspOp. 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
32. ^ "Charli XCX Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
33. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
34. ^ "Charli XCX Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
35. ^ "Lista prodaje 15. tjedan 2025" [Sales list Week 15 2025] (in Croatian). HDU. 24 April 2025. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
36. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Charli XCX – Number 1 Angel" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
37. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2025. 16. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
38. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
39. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
40. ^ "Billboard 200 (Week of April 26, 2025)". Billboard. 22 April 2025. Retrieved 22 April 2025.
41. ^ "Charli XCX Reveals Number 1 Angel Tracklist, Tour Dates". Spin. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2019.

* v
* t
* e

Charli XCX

* Discography
* Songs written
* Awards and nominations
* Live performances

Studio albums|

* True Romance
* Sucker
* Charli
* How I'm Feeling Now
* Crash
* Brat

Mixtapes|

* Super Ultra
* Number 1 Angel
* Pop 2

Soundtrack albums|

* Bottoms

Remix albums|

* Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat

Extended plays|

* You're the One
* Vroom Vroom

Singles|

* "Nuclear Seasons"
* "You're the One"
* "You (Ha Ha Ha)"
* "SuperLove"
* "Boom Clap"
* "Break the Rules"
* "Doing It"
* "Famous"
* "After the Afterparty"
* "Boys"
* "Out of My Head"
* "5 in the Morning"
* "Focus" / "No Angel"
* "Girls Night Out"
* "1999"
* "Blame It on Your Love"
* "Dream Glow"
* "Gone"
* "White Mercedes"
* "Forever"
* "Claws"
* "I Finally Understand"
* "Spinning"
* "Good Ones"
* "New Shapes"
* "Beg for You"
* "Baby"
* "Hot in It"
* "Speed Drive"
* "In the City"
* "Von Dutch"
* "360"
* "Guess"
* "Apple"
* "Talk Talk"
* "Party 4 U"

Featured singles|

* "I Love It"
* "Fancy"
* "Drop That Kitty"
* "Crazy Crazy"
* "Dirty Sexy Money"
* "Girls"
* "Bitches" (remix)
* "Spicy"
* "Flash Pose"
* "Ringtone (remix)"
* "Out Out"

Promotional singles|

* "Vroom Vroom"
* "Unlock It"
* "Cross You Out"
* "2099"
* "Click"

Other songs|

* "3AM (Pull Up)"
* "911" (remix)
* "2 Die 4"
* "Girl, So Confusing"
* "Sympathy Is a Knife"
* "Here I Go"

Concert tours|

* Girl Power North America Tour
* Charli and Jack Do America Tour
* Charli Live Tour
* Crash: The Live Tour
* Sweat (with Troye Sivan)
* Brat Tour

Related articles|

* I'm with the Band: Nasty Cherry
* Charli Slater
* Brat Summer

* Category
* Commons

* v
* t
* e

A. G. Cook

* Discography

Studio albums|

* 7G
* Apple
* Britpop

Remix albums|

* Apple vs. 7G

Compilation albums|

* PC Music Volume 1
* PC Music Volume 2

Singles|

* "Beautiful"

Related articles|

* PC Music

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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