Charli XCX has proven herself time and time again to be a musical superwoman. She remains one of the hardest working and most collaborative artists in the greater pop sphere, and her latest endeavour sees her playing Simon Cowell – she’s formed a band, and they fucking rock! Nasty Cherry are the star of new Netflix series I’m With The Band: Nasty Cherry, and in six short episodes, the band’s four members – Gabi, Chloe, Georgia and Debbie – as well as Charli and manager Emmie have given us some serious, and spoiler free, life lessons to take into the new decade.

1.    Party first, work later

The first episode of the docuseries sees Charli bring together the four band members as what could be the grittier, older sister to the Spice Girls. In fact, Nasty Cherry in essence mirror the Spice Girls in many ways – they’re manufactured, yes, but they’re reckless and they’re real. Their bond between the four of them seems natural and it seems effortless, but it had to grow that way. There’s no better way to do that than to throw a house party and be so hungover the next morning you need two breakfasts. Before they’d even jammed or rehearsed, they had hit a red carpet and they were celebrating their kick off. The party felt liberating and it felt empowering – exactly what the band had promised to be about.

2.    Compromise is key

When it comes down to it, I’m With The Band is a reality show and it needs a story, and that story needs a conflict. The main conflict throughout the show? The rest of the band having problems with Chloe’s schedule, as she fronts another already established band – Kitten. Chloe is easily the most optimistic and energetic of the group, and her ambition and drive seems to clash with the other members, particularly bassist Georgia. Kitten is Chloe’s way of life, and despite her tenacity to make both work, the other members were not having a bar of it. In the end, it stifled some of the growth that the band desperately needed as neither party could come to a compromise.

3.    Fake it ‘til you make it

The premise and recurring theme of the show is that not one member feels totally confident in doing what they’re doing, despite trying to convince each other – and themselves – that they are. Gabi has never been in a band before, Chloe’s got her worries with Kitten, Debbie is sorely homesick, and Georgia has given up huge opportunities – piloting, taxidermy and set decorating for Avengers and Star Wars - to play an instrument she’s never played before. But, manager Emmie says in the first episode that Hollywood is the land of “fake it ‘til you make it” and that’s exactly what the band does. Despite all the bullshit – they wipe their tears and they face their fears, mimosas in hand and platform boots in tow, and smash their first gig – despite all odds being against them.

4.    Never be afraid to call someone out on their shit

Without giving too much away, there’s a tension between the band and Charli and Emmie when the latter sets them up with a male producer. The band feel that they don’t want to work with a man because it’ll “ruin their flow” and they want to prove that they can do it without help from men. Charli hears about it and goes off on the band for implying that working with a man makes them less empowered women. It’s a side of XCX we’ve never seen before, saying how “fucking offended” she is.

“I’m empowered because I’m empowered.” 

5.    If nothing else, always back yourself

With the exception of a moment when Debbie is hiding behind a cabinet as she fears the world will see she can’t open a wine bottle, the band backs themselves 100%. Everyone has their own personal drawbacks, but they never let it show for too long. Despite all the disagreements, the arguments and the one big event that happens towards the end of the season, everyone involved with Nasty Cherry is team Nasty Cherry – and that’s what has set them up for their success. “I define my fucking success,” Charli says in the show’s third episode, and that remains the mantra for the entire show. When everything feels like it’s in the shitter, you have to believe in yourself and you have to do what’s best for you – because no one else is going to do it for you.

And if you can’t do that, just pour yourself another mimosa. Bring on 2020.