Charli XCX: ‘Auto-Tune makes you lazy — but I drink, I smoke and I use Auto-Tune, those are my three things’Electro pop singer-songwriter Charli XCX has spoken about her love for Auto-Tune, noting how it’s become indispensable to her recording process over the years.

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The use of Auto-Tune has long been stigmatised in music, ever since Cher, T-Pain and Kanye brought it into the limelight, with claims that it’s used to disguise bad vocal performances. But, even for many talented singers like Charli XCX, it’s useful for creating intriguing vocal parts. Still, she says, it can come with a price.
“[Like in my] early work, I can—I could sing in tune, but now I think I’ve gotten so lazy because I sing with Auto-Tune all the time,” says Charli XCX on the Tape Notes Podcast, joined by producers A.G Cook and George Daniel. “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.”
“That’s why I only do rap at karaoke,” she adds. “Because people are like, ‘oh, isn’t she a singer?’ And I’m like, ‘Well yeah, but have you heard of Auto-Tune?’”
The musician, who earlier this month released her sixth studio album BRAT, also admits that her reliance on autotune for writing music, “cutting vocals” and “singing live” has made her “lazy” when it comes to hitting the right pitch.
“You really, really get lazy because you can relax into a note rather than being super on,” she says. “And I mean, there are some amazingly technical singers who do sing with Auto-Tune who are still pitch-perfect, but that’s not me. Like, I drink and I smoke and I use autotune, those three things.”

That said, Charli also acknowledges that there are times when raw, imperfect vocals are needed, citing some of the ‘gang vocals’ on BRAT as an example.
“I immediately knew that I wanted it to feel pitchy — I think that was the charm.” In the same way the kick was hard because it’s “kind of crappy”, she says, “it’s the same way with the vocals.”
“Sometimes actually, it can be really hard when it’s a little bit janky and out of tune. It’s like some of those great gang vocal moments in hip-hop, like Gucci Mane’s Lemonade. That sounds so good because of the way that gang vocal sounds. And I think this is similar.”
“For BRAT, I think that’s really important… to have this human mistake element happening in the tracks. Because that very much goes with the ethos of the record as well.”
Charli XCX’s BRAT was released earlier this month and has received positive praise from critics. NME rated it four stars and said that Charli is “pushing the limits of her own sonic world.” YouTube reviewer Anthony Fantano awarded it a rare 10/10, saying that “it proves Charli is a generational pop artist.”
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