"Charlie" is a song by Australian musician

Mallrat Grace Kathleen Elizabeth Shaw (born 25 September 1998), known professionally as Mallrat, is an Australian musician, singer, and rapper from Brisbane. Mallrat has released three EPs: ''Uninvited'' (2016), ''In the Sky'' (2018) and ''Driving Mus ...

. It was released on 7 August 2019 as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from Mallrat's third EP '' Driving Music''. The song debuted at number 50 on the

ARIA Charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian record chart, music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA beca ...

in February 2020 after placing at number 3 in

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

's Hottest 100 of 2019. The song is named after Mallrat's beloved family dog, Charlie. Mallrat told

"'Charlie' is about a lot of different things, but mostly just loving people so much, regardless of whether it's reciprocated or not." In November 2019, Mallrat revealed that she had been asked to record a version of "Charlie" in the Simlish language for the upcoming addition in ''

The Sims ''The Sims'' is a series of life simulation video games developed by Maxis and Video game publisher, published by Electronic Arts. The franchise has sold nearly 200 million copies worldwide, and is one of the List of best-selling video game fran ...

'' series.

Music video

The video clip for "Charlie" was released on 6 August 2019 and directed by her friend Tim Hardy. It sees Mallrat riding her bike through the streets of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and gives the viewer a look inside her previous life. It also features Mallrat's father and family

Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

retriever A retriever is a Dog type, type of gun dog that retrieves Game (hunting), game for a hunter. Generally gun dogs are divided into three major classifications: retrievers, flushing spaniels, and pointing breeds. Retrievers were bred primarily to ...

Charlie, whom the song is named after.

Reception

Nicole Almeida from ''Atwood Magazine'' said "'Charlie' is a declaration of love as much as it is a recipe for it. As Mallrat bares her soul to the person she loves, speaking about her feelings and family, she also tells them exactly what she looks for in a relationship. Or this might just be a song about how much she loves her dog, which makes it equally (if not more) as special. Regardless, on 'Charlie', Mallrat successfully shifts direction and proves that whether the song is made for dancing or crying to, her storytelling is her most uniquely powerful tool." Tom Skinner from ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' called the song an "emotional dreamy cut". Jackson Langford from Music Feeds called the song "absolutely stunning" and one that will be on repeat for months. In a review of the EP, Josh Leeson from Newcastle Herald described "Charlie" as the EP's "most beautiful moment".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certification

References

{{Authority control 2019 songs 2019 singles Mallrat songs Songs written by Leroy Clampitt Songs written by Mallrat