Charli XCX has done it again. Nine months after the stunning Number 1 Angel reframed hi-NRG sounds and springy club textures as moody, irregular party anthems, her second collaboration-heavy mixtape this year, POP 2, brings niche artists from around the globe into her world to stretch dance-pop into unexpected, optimistic directions. “I think there’s a more joyous element to POP 2,” Charli said, speaking over the phone with the tape’s executive producer A. G. Cook and The FADER. “When we were doing Number 1 Angel I was feeling emotional, lost, and raw,” she continued. “The artwork for that was red, but POP 2 felt in the holographic purple world — lots of different colors, and not necessarily just one thing.”

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Charli’s mixtapes have always tapped into her wide-ranging taste. Even before the release of her major label debut, True Romance, she sampled Jai Paul and linked with Blood Diamonds for a free download, Heartbreaks and Earthquakes, in 2012. This year’s Number 1 Angel proved that non-traditional releases allow Charli to take her dynamic pop energy to new heights (even if some critics bypassed it in favor of her genius, thirst-inducing video for “Boys”). Her liberated approach to music is clearer than ever on POP 2, which stylistically finds a middle ground between the self-reflective Number 1 Angel, and the playfully caustic textures of Charli and A. G.’s 2016 collaborative EP, Vroom Vroom. Its introspective moments are tempered with an uninhibited desire to have fun, embracing pop’s jagged edges along the way. These songs bite as much as they brood.

A giddy selection of collaborators, many of them lesser known in the Western world, are are integral to the tape’s free-wheeling feel. Charli and A. G. have teamed up with Estonian viral rapper Tommy Cash, Brazilian drag sensation Pabllo Vittar, Korean-American hip-hop star Jay Park, and many more. When a guest appears, the sound of a song dramatically shifts to herald their arrival: Carly Rae Jepsen arrives in a coruscating whirl of ’80s synths on “Backseat”; Caroline Polachek’s plaintive vocals dominate “Tears”; and Mykki Blanco’s raging verse thrillingly clashes with the flirtatious hook of “Femmebot.” “[When featured artists come in] I wanted to make it sound like the whole track was destroyed,” said A. G. “It should become about them for twenty seconds.” Charli added: “This mixtape isn’t necessarily about me — it’s really about giving everybody their moment to own the song.”

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The FADER spoke with Charli and A. G. the week of POP 2’s release: the London producer was finishing up his day in PC Music’s north London studio, and Charli was at her L.A. home, preparing for a trip to China. In a warm conversation, they explained the challenges of recording POP 2 in just three months, the mixtape’s hidden easter egg for PC Music fans, and a planned Lil Peep collaboration that will never see the light of day.