New York Magazine’s annual Fall Preview issue features a cover story by Brock Colyar, profiling musician Charli XCX on the heels of her massively popular album that shaped the internet and defined the summer’s vibe. In addition, New York’s critics preview the most notable culture of the season, including movies, television, podcasts, art, theater, music, and more.
“Charli XCX was ubiquitous this summer, and writer Brock Colyar caught her during the height of Brat madness, as she reckons with the movement she started and wonders if it’s spinning out of her control,” said culture editor Tomi Obaro. “Elsewhere in our Fall Preview, we’ve found that the season’s most notable performers are in their biggest roles to date, including Nicole Scherzinger, whose lead role in Sunset Blvd. is poised to be a breakout, and Josh Rivera, who’ll be playing Aaron Hernandez in a new Ryan Murphy television series.”
Charli XCX was photographed by David LaChapelle, whose inspiration for the surrealist shoot comes from Hollywood’s grittier elements: “I’ve always loved the rawness of B movies and tabloids and Hollywood Babylon. They’ve always spoken to me. Charli’s had such a strong career, but this is a new level for her, and I wanted to do something that was kind of tabloid, but also add some surreal elements dealing with the nature of how she’s exploded. So, it’s a B-movie take on the idea of a tabloid frenzy. She’s sort of trapped by fame and all the tabloid photographers are chasing her. An animal trapped in woods would bite off its own limb — she bites off her hand. Then, she’s brought to the hospital and probably given some sort of painkiller. She’s hallucinating. Instead of a real Hollywood tragedy, it’s more of a fantasized one. She’s stuck in a dreamscape.”
Elsewhere in the issue, Kerry Howley writes about two young paleontologists who, in a matter of days, turned on each other after each claimed to have found new evidence of the worst day in the history of life on earth. Lane Brown profiles Eric Goode, a former nightclub impresario and reptile enthusiast who has become one of the most successful documentary filmmakers of our time. After exploding onto the Hollywood scene in 2020 with the hit docuseries Tiger King, Goode is now back with a new show, Chimp Crazy, that might be even wilder.