UK - 2024
Electropop, Dance-Pop, Bubblegum Bass, Electro House
Some phenomenons are predictable. Some others aren’t, but when they hit it feels obvious they were meant to become timeless. Four letters in a blurry black Arial font, a lime green background refered as the Pantone 3507C, that’s all. Highly recognizable, highly imitable, one of the boldest artistic and commercial statement of the year.
And this is exactly what Charli XCX achieved with BRAT, to create a peak in her career, both artistically and commercially. Fifteen songs almost all viral on social media, personal playlists or clubs, it became almost impossible to escape her music. And most of the time, this is tiring. You hear the same songs over and over, it goes in your head and never leaves. But BRAT has never felt overwhelming or boring despite its continuous spreading in culture, society and even politics. And now that Charli announced a 2024 summer tour, making it clear that « BRAT SUMMER » is meant to be repeated again and again, its status remains unquestionnable, contagious and creative.
With BRAT REMIXES Charli showed everybody how much these songs could all be reimagined, reworked, rebuilt. Her creativity doesn’t end, it’s meant to constantly evolve and grow as it is confronted to a numerous amount of new people entering the BRAT world. Of course the album has its flaws, but that’s also part of its spirit. Flaws are a inherent part to every human being, and this ain’t gonna stop BRAT of becoming one of modern pop music most indispensable masterpieces.
« It’s okay to just admit that you’re jealous of me / Yeah I heard you talk about me, that’s the word on the street / You’re obsessing, just confess it, put your hands up / It’s obvious, I’m your number one ». Von Dutch isn’t the first song off BRAT, but it was the first single released. And it set the tone. Heavy electronic club vibes, and the birth of an outrageous persona. She might be bragging but every word she said was right, our prophetess of pop settled the ground for the landing of her bigger-than-life party girl picture. The opening song 360 doubles down on that with more self-confident and empowering lyrics : « The city sewer’ slut’s the vibe / Interntionally recognized / I set the tone it’s my design / And it’s stuck in your mind ».
Surfing on even more rave-like waves, Von Dutch, B2B and Club Classics are meant to embrace dancefloors, its atmosphere, its culture, its people. And with B2B, Charli signs one of the best song she ever wrote. Beyond the vulnerabilty, beyond the bragging, beyond all these themes, Charli wrote a song that’s a 100% dedicated to the clubs and DJing, simply a song that bangs like no others.
But that dedication to the club culture isn’t only meant to praise the « brat » archetype. The bridge from B2B repeats « I don’t wanna feel feelings ». That’s why BRAT feels so honest, because Charli chose to present her new self as a vulnerable super-hero. When Charli isn’t owning the club’s speakers, she struggles with her messy reflection.
If the first mention of the mirror in 360 was another occasion for Charli to flex, on I Might Say Something Stupid we see the other side of her reflection : « Talk to myself in the mirror / Wear these clothes as disguise / Just to re-enter the party ». Fame has affected Charli since she first started making music more than 10 years ago. It grew on her like a plague never letting her rest and damaging her private life. « Used to burn CD’s full of songs I didn’t know / Used to sit in my bedroom, putting polish on my toes / Recently, I’ve been thinking ‘bout a way simpler time » she recalls on the nostalgic Rewind.
Motherhood, friendship, self-esteem, love, wasted time, all these themes travel through her head and her songs like everlasting insecurities aching to be solved. But it never really happens. So instead of pushing them away she sings them, she turns her family traumas into soft electro-pop, on Apple for instance. « I think the apple’s rotten right to the core / From all the things passed down / From all the apples coming before / I split the apple down symmetrical lines / And what I find is kinda scary / Makes me just wanna drive ». This is why BRAT is such an interesting character study. She doesn’t omit any facet of her personnality. And even though she knows she has no control over some of her most deeply anchored fears, she regains that control in the way she talks about them. Acknowledgment is the key. And even on the saddest songs I Think About It All the Time and So I, there’s still a part of her that knows she can dance her problems away anytime. And this is not a bad thing. On the contrary, Charli genuinely embraces all the areas of her brain, both damaged and strong.
And during this long and detailed introspection, there’s one song where she really starts looking outside, looking around. She stares at the world around her and contemplates the landscapes she goes through. Everything Is Romantic is a sublime song that sounds like a pop-rap description of our doomed love carried by heartrending strings.
« Bad tattoos on leather-tanned skin / Jesus Christ on a plastic sign / Fall in love again and again / Winding roads, doing manual drive / […] Early nights in white sheets with lace curtains / Capri in the distance », a juxtaposition of melancholic images, sad paintings and bitter memories. This is Charli’s mythological collage, a modern picture of a world almost forgotten. This is the kind of song that fees like an eternal sunset or a road trip in the backseat of a quiet car.
Charli looks at everything around her and questions its nature : is it possible to find love in all these random things ? The entire album focuses on that question. In the club, in the mirror, in your own skin, in a fruit or in grief, she investigates a million places to catch a glimpse of love everywhere. Because despite its club anthems, self-empowering tunes, infectious aesthetic and endless replay value, I believe that our attachment to this album has to do with something else. Charli proved it on the remixes, when she surrounds herself with guests, she brings massive communities together who can now all enjoy the same songs. But even without guests, BRAT was already filled with love letters.
It’s her fiancé George Daniel on Talk Talk, her friend and mentor SOPHIE on So I, all the brat girls on Mean Girls and everybody in the club on 365. Even a song like Girl so confusing, originally about her troubled relationship with Lorde has a line that goes : « I think we’re totally different / But opposites do attract / Maybe we’re so meant to be / Just you and me ». It’s everywhere, in many shapes, an outpouring of love cascades through BRAT. « You said she’s problematic and the way you say it, so fanatic / Think she already knows that you’re obsessed » she sings on Mean Girls, because all these love letters are also here to make a point. Charli is building a world inspired by queer and feminist cultures. In the same vein as the recent RENAISSANCE by Beyoncé or Mercedes by MALVINA, BRAT is an emancipatory demarcation from patriarcal expectations and societal molds.
And if Everything Is Romantic was revisiting a modern yet outdated mythology, BRAT kicks the door open for a new kind of contemporary myths. It only took a few days for everyone to embrace these feelings, and now I only hope that this is just one small symptom of a massive step forward towards change and an unequivocable acceptance of others.
And this is exactly what Charli XCX achieved with BRAT, to create a peak in her career, both artistically and commercially. Fifteen songs almost all viral on social media, personal playlists or clubs, it became almost impossible to escape her music. And most of the time, this is tiring. You hear the same songs over and over, it goes in your head and never leaves. But BRAT has never felt overwhelming or boring despite its continuous spreading in culture, society and even politics. And now that Charli announced a 2024 summer tour, making it clear that « BRAT SUMMER » is meant to be repeated again and again, its status remains unquestionnable, contagious and creative.
With BRAT REMIXES Charli showed everybody how much these songs could all be reimagined, reworked, rebuilt. Her creativity doesn’t end, it’s meant to constantly evolve and grow as it is confronted to a numerous amount of new people entering the BRAT world. Of course the album has its flaws, but that’s also part of its spirit. Flaws are a inherent part to every human being, and this ain’t gonna stop BRAT of becoming one of modern pop music most indispensable masterpieces.
« It’s okay to just admit that you’re jealous of me / Yeah I heard you talk about me, that’s the word on the street / You’re obsessing, just confess it, put your hands up / It’s obvious, I’m your number one ». Von Dutch isn’t the first song off BRAT, but it was the first single released. And it set the tone. Heavy electronic club vibes, and the birth of an outrageous persona. She might be bragging but every word she said was right, our prophetess of pop settled the ground for the landing of her bigger-than-life party girl picture. The opening song 360 doubles down on that with more self-confident and empowering lyrics : « The city sewer’ slut’s the vibe / Interntionally recognized / I set the tone it’s my design / And it’s stuck in your mind ».
Surfing on even more rave-like waves, Von Dutch, B2B and Club Classics are meant to embrace dancefloors, its atmosphere, its culture, its people. And with B2B, Charli signs one of the best song she ever wrote. Beyond the vulnerabilty, beyond the bragging, beyond all these themes, Charli wrote a song that’s a 100% dedicated to the clubs and DJing, simply a song that bangs like no others.
But that dedication to the club culture isn’t only meant to praise the « brat » archetype. The bridge from B2B repeats « I don’t wanna feel feelings ». That’s why BRAT feels so honest, because Charli chose to present her new self as a vulnerable super-hero. When Charli isn’t owning the club’s speakers, she struggles with her messy reflection.
If the first mention of the mirror in 360 was another occasion for Charli to flex, on I Might Say Something Stupid we see the other side of her reflection : « Talk to myself in the mirror / Wear these clothes as disguise / Just to re-enter the party ». Fame has affected Charli since she first started making music more than 10 years ago. It grew on her like a plague never letting her rest and damaging her private life. « Used to burn CD’s full of songs I didn’t know / Used to sit in my bedroom, putting polish on my toes / Recently, I’ve been thinking ‘bout a way simpler time » she recalls on the nostalgic Rewind.
Motherhood, friendship, self-esteem, love, wasted time, all these themes travel through her head and her songs like everlasting insecurities aching to be solved. But it never really happens. So instead of pushing them away she sings them, she turns her family traumas into soft electro-pop, on Apple for instance. « I think the apple’s rotten right to the core / From all the things passed down / From all the apples coming before / I split the apple down symmetrical lines / And what I find is kinda scary / Makes me just wanna drive ». This is why BRAT is such an interesting character study. She doesn’t omit any facet of her personnality. And even though she knows she has no control over some of her most deeply anchored fears, she regains that control in the way she talks about them. Acknowledgment is the key. And even on the saddest songs I Think About It All the Time and So I, there’s still a part of her that knows she can dance her problems away anytime. And this is not a bad thing. On the contrary, Charli genuinely embraces all the areas of her brain, both damaged and strong.
And during this long and detailed introspection, there’s one song where she really starts looking outside, looking around. She stares at the world around her and contemplates the landscapes she goes through. Everything Is Romantic is a sublime song that sounds like a pop-rap description of our doomed love carried by heartrending strings.
« Bad tattoos on leather-tanned skin / Jesus Christ on a plastic sign / Fall in love again and again / Winding roads, doing manual drive / […] Early nights in white sheets with lace curtains / Capri in the distance », a juxtaposition of melancholic images, sad paintings and bitter memories. This is Charli’s mythological collage, a modern picture of a world almost forgotten. This is the kind of song that fees like an eternal sunset or a road trip in the backseat of a quiet car.
Charli looks at everything around her and questions its nature : is it possible to find love in all these random things ? The entire album focuses on that question. In the club, in the mirror, in your own skin, in a fruit or in grief, she investigates a million places to catch a glimpse of love everywhere. Because despite its club anthems, self-empowering tunes, infectious aesthetic and endless replay value, I believe that our attachment to this album has to do with something else. Charli proved it on the remixes, when she surrounds herself with guests, she brings massive communities together who can now all enjoy the same songs. But even without guests, BRAT was already filled with love letters.
It’s her fiancé George Daniel on Talk Talk, her friend and mentor SOPHIE on So I, all the brat girls on Mean Girls and everybody in the club on 365. Even a song like Girl so confusing, originally about her troubled relationship with Lorde has a line that goes : « I think we’re totally different / But opposites do attract / Maybe we’re so meant to be / Just you and me ». It’s everywhere, in many shapes, an outpouring of love cascades through BRAT. « You said she’s problematic and the way you say it, so fanatic / Think she already knows that you’re obsessed » she sings on Mean Girls, because all these love letters are also here to make a point. Charli is building a world inspired by queer and feminist cultures. In the same vein as the recent RENAISSANCE by Beyoncé or Mercedes by MALVINA, BRAT is an emancipatory demarcation from patriarcal expectations and societal molds.
And if Everything Is Romantic was revisiting a modern yet outdated mythology, BRAT kicks the door open for a new kind of contemporary myths. It only took a few days for everyone to embrace these feelings, and now I only hope that this is just one small symptom of a massive step forward towards change and an unequivocable acceptance of others.