Charli XCX & Troye Sivan get into full retro drag for 90s-inspired music video

British pop singer Charli XCX and Perth pop star Troye Sivan have just released a duet single called 1999 with a video clip that takes viewers back to that exact year… big-time.

In the clip, Charli is seen one minute as a geek hugging her fat Apple Mac computer, the next dressed and grooving like Left-Eye Lopez of TLC a la Waterfalls.

There’s even a bit with Charli fully naked, dipped in rose petals in the same pose as Mena Suvari in ‘American Beauty’  … a daring inclusion in the midst of the #TimesUp movement.

Up next she’s being cradled by Troye in a scene emulating Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio in Titanic, ill-fitting suit on Troye and dodgy wig on Charli.

But the campest bit is when Charli takes the piss out of Baby Spice fronting a Spice Girls dance routine, cutting immediately to Troye dressed as that creepy bearded dude in Backstreet Boys fronting his sorry posse.

Ironically, there’s even a bit with Charli fully naked, dipped in rose petals in the same pose as Mena Suvari in American Beauty, just as Charli sings “Oooh, I wish we could just go back in time”. It makes for a daring inclusion in the midst of the #TimesUp movement – and even creepier given that Kevin Spacey, who starred opposite Suvari in the original film, is currently being alleged of sexual misconduct with minors.

Mena Suvari and Kevin Spacey in ‘that scene’ in ‘American Beauty’.

To add insult to injury, the rose petal scene cuts to a bunch of paparazzi photographing an obscured couple, revealed to represent Marilyn Manson and Rose McGowan – back in McGowan’s ‘hooker’-looking days – which clearly sees Charli throwing shade at the #MeToo rep who today looks more butch-military than sexed-up vixen.

But enough pop cultural referencing, take a look at the clip for yourself and see what other reminiscent (and cheeky) scenarios you can spot.

One thing’s for sure: the 90s weren’t as clever and cool as we all thought they were. In retrospect, they were kitsch, camp, overtly ironic, and kinda irresponsible, really.  Antonino Tati