Charli XCX’s “Reflecting” Demo Was Intended For Gwen Stefani

Mike Wass | February 22, 2017 7:12 pm
Charli XCX Wishes She Kept "Same Old Love"
Songwriting queen Charli XCX wishes she kept Selena Gomez's "Same Old Love."

Charli XCX’s laptop struck a leak this morning (February 22) with a new demo called “Reflecting” surfacing online. According to the SoundCloud listing, the catchy pop/rock track was originally pitched to Selena Gomez. It’s not outside the realm of possibly. After all, the Brit contributed “Same Old Love” to Sel’s Grammy-robbed Revival LP, but I think the song was actually intended for Gwen Stefani. (You can hear a snippet of her version here). Whatever the case may be, it’s peak mainstream-XCX — falling somewhere between “Boom Clap” and the pure-pop of “Break The Rules.”

“Try to hide how we feel about it, in the night you’re the dream on repeat in my head,” Charli purrs over a driving beat. “This is our secret around in circles we go now i’m letting you know I need it.” She really delivers on the High School Musical-tastic chorus, declaring: “All this time I can’t believe, you’ve been here all along reflecting back at me.” I don’t know what’s going on. This is better than anything on This Is What The Truth Feels Like (or “After The Afterparty,” for that matter). Why let a bop like this go to waste? Listen below.

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