Taylor Swift heaps praise on ‘surreal and inventive’ Charli XCX following ‘feud’ over chart battle

‘Brat’ artist is said to have written the song ‘Sympathy is a Knife’ about Swift

Taylor Swift has heaped praise on Charli XCX following the two pop stars’ rivalry in the music charts.

Charli, real name Charlotte Aitchison, featured a song on her recent acclaimed album Brat that is widely believed to be about Swift, titled “Sympathy is a Knife”.

The two artists’ fanbases have also feuded in recent months, after Swift released new UK-only editions of her latest album The Tortured Poets’ Department, prompting her to pip Brat to the No 1 spot in the UK charts.

Speaking to Vulture as part of a profile of Charli, Swift said: “I’ve been blown away by Charli’s melodic sensibilities since I first heard ‘Stay Away’ in 2011. Her writing is surreal and inventive, always.

“She just takes a song to places you wouldn’t expect it to go, and she’s been doing it consistently for over a decade. I love to see hard work like that pay off.”

The history between the two artists goes back years, with Charli supporting Swift on her 2018 Reputation stadium tour. The following year, she said: “As an artist, it kind of felt like I was getting up onstage and waving to 5-year-olds.” Charli later apologised for the comment.

After Swift beat Charli to the No 1 position back in June, a DJ set in São Paulo saw Charli’s fans begin chanting “Taylor is dead” in Portuguese.

Charli XCX and Taylor Swift (Getty)

The “360” singer implored her fans to stop in an Instagram story, writing: “Can the people who do this please stop. Online or at my shows. It is the opposite of what I want and it disturbs me that anyone would think there is room for this in this community. I will not tolerate it.”

In the interview with Vulture, Charli was also asked about the apparent references to Swift in “Sympathy is a Knife”.

“People are gonna think what they want to think,” she said. “That song is about me and my feelings and my anxiety and the way my brain creates narratives and stories in my head when I feel insecure and how I don’t want to be in those situations physically when I feel self-doubt.”

In a four-star review of Brat for The Independent, critic Helen Brown wrote: “BRAT is a hedonistic, ultraviolet collection of songs whose thumping – slightly disorienting – club beats more than succeed in their aim of ‘capturing a feeling of chaos’.

“Over thudding bass lines, you can imagine glasses of vodka and coke shuddering on the bar – imagine Jurassic Park, but the T rex is a subwoofer.”