From mainstream sensation to hyperpop innovator, the English singer-songwriter Charli xcx has defined her career by refusing to be put in a box. This most recent and most successful era of hers, BRAT, is no different.
I doubt any of you need a reintroduction to the album that defined summer 2024 with its abrasive yet familiar production, catchy yet personal songwriting and unique yet iconic aesthetic. Though, does anyone actually remember how Charli herself got started?
Charli has been climbing her way to the top for over 10 years now. From her viral hit with Icona Pop “I Love It” to her placement on The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack with “Boom Clap,” she wasn’t that easy to escape in the early 2010s.
Though, once she started experimenting with her sound and collaborating with members of the PC Music group, most notably producers A. G. Cook and SOPHIE, Charli was quickly seen as more of an underground artist, with those few billboard hits being pegged as “luck” and “of an era” from just a few years prior.
Don’t get me wrong, Charli still had a devout fanbase as she shifted trajectories and has been praised as one of the defining artists in the now notorious “hyperpop” genre. Charli’s Vroom Vroom EP as well as her mixtape Pop 2 are now seen as essential listening for any hyperpop fan. These projects are able to fuse electronic, bubblegum bass and dance music with standard pop tropes to create an intoxicating atmosphere full of texture, distortion and wonder.
While not necessarily being for everyone, hyperpop was and continues to be a refreshing take on standard pop and dance music and has been praised for its willingness to take risks and stand out.
Charli’s next album Charli as well as her following quarantine-inspired record how i’m feeling now both continued to capitalize on this hyperpop centric sound to varying degrees of success. While Charli was the guest-heavy, more pop appealing record she’d been working on for years, HIFN was crafted in only a couple months with very few collaborators and focused more on DIY, experimental aspects.
While both records saw much critical acclaim upon release, sales were still meager, causing Charli to reinvent herself once more as a satirical sell-out popstar with her next album CRASH. But of course, not even playing into the idea of commercial, safe pop music was enough to warrant Charli a hit song. Until her contribution to the Barbie soundtrack, “Speed Drive,” Charli hadn’t had a song on the billboard charts for nearly 10 years.
Reinvigorated and signed to a new contract, Charli was ready to begin working on her next album, having no idea the effects it will have on the current pop landscape.
BRAT was released on June 7, 2024, and it continues to be one of the most celebrated and talked about albums of the year if not the decade so far. Charli dove headfirst into club and dance aesthetics on this record while also not being afraid to get vulnerable and melancholic, two characteristics you may not think go well together but somehow Charli pulled it off with flying colors.
While the music itself remains outstanding, the promo for this record could be something worth studying in your next marketing class with how effective it was. Everything from an exclusive Instagram account to billboards around the world plastered with the iconic, minimal lime green cover art, you could truly feel the hype for this album everywhere you went.
Since the album’s release, there has also been talk of a “remix” album full of guest collaborators and reimagined tracks and that all came to fruition just this past week. Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat released on October 11 and has been seeing near identical praise as the original record for its curation, creativity and what some are calling a “victory lap” level move from Charli as she remains one of the most talked about pop stars this year.
Though, I don’t even think it would be fair to call this new project a remix album. Sure, some tracks are just slightly reworked and add a guest verse, but the majority of the original BRAT tracks couldn’t be more different that their new counterparts.
Take “Sympathy is a knife” for example. One of my favorite songs from the original BRAT track list, for its booming production and soul-baring vocal performance from Charli, has seen a complete reworking with guest Ariana Grande. These two absolutely demolish this new, more electronic-heavy instrumental with lyrics about their insecurities and hatred toward certain media outlets and how they could be perceived in the public eye.
While the original track saw Charli comparing herself to some of her contemporaries, this new version with Grande is much more generalized toward spotlight and perception as she’s become more known and famous these past few months, a message Grande is no stranger to as well. While I could see this becoming the biggest hit off the new record it easily deserves it. This track is a great reminder that these pop stars you put on a pedestal are still just people like everyone else.
“I might say something stupid” is another completely reimagined track featuring new, spacey instrumentation from Jon Hopkins and ironically accurate guest Matty Healy of The 1975. While Healy has always found himself in hot water for letting his mouth run wild, this track serves as a great gateway into his mind and mental state. Sounding like it could’ve come from one of the band’s previous albums like A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, Healy and Charli harmonize beautifully by the end of the track with sincere, down-to-earth lyrics that may even make you shed a tear.
Getting into more clubby and erratic tracks, there’s “Club classics” with Bb trickz, which is almost even more like a mashup between the original and iconic closer “365.” You also have the reworked “Talk talk” with Troye Sivan and an uncredited Dua Lipa speaking French and Spanish, tying into the song’s theme. This track has been given an even more clubby and sexy coat of paint with the beat sounding straight out of a SEGA Genesis game.
How could I forget the opener “360” featuring a duo for the ages, Yung Lean and Robyn? While the instrumental hasn’t changed much, these three trailblazers of their own respective genres always manage to put a smile on my face. Reminiscing about their accomplishments and seeing how far they’ve come is nothing short of inspiring.
I would say the only “remixes” that didn’t fully click with me were “Von dutch” featuring Addison Rae and “Apple” featuring The Japanese House. While I still like moments and ideas from these tracks, they can also feel far less interesting than their respective originals.
“Everything is romantic” with Caroline Polachek however is a must listen. Keeping the same sentiment and spoken-word style delivery, Polachek makes the song her own over this more quiet, subdued beat and her always impressive vocal range. The track is also full of so many quotables and a fun back-and-forth between Charli and Polachek as if they were on the phone with each other.
While the track remains fun and tongue-in-cheek it’s also one of the most beautifully produced songs on the entire record, once again begging the question BRAT routinely asks—should I be dancing or sobbing right now?
“Rewind” with Bladee is another surprising yet delightful collaboration as Charli goes even deeper into the song’s themes of self-doubt and wanting to relive past experiences, delivering one of her best, dare I say, rap verses of her entire career.
“So I” is once again the most emotional and heartbreaking track on the record, but not in the way you’d expect.
As this track was originally a tribute to Charli’s late friend and collaborator SOPHIE, it was much more focused on her regrets and what she missed out on while her good friend was alive. Even taking inspiration from one of SOPHIE’s most beloved tracks “It’s Okay to Cry,” the song is very reflective and wistful in tone and serves as a glorious send-off for one of pop’s most gifted producers and pioneers.
This new version, however, sees Charli embrace all the good times and memories she made with SOPHIE with a completely new erratic and zany instrumental courtesy of another close collaborator A. G. Cook. While the track is much different in tone, it still serves as a loving, beautiful tribute to a lost loved one, who I could even imagine being behind the song’s production with how reminiscent it still is of SOPHIE’s style and life’s work.
Another truly touching moment on the record is “I think about it all the time” with indie sad-boy extraordinaire Bon Iver. One of the most personal and raw tracks on the original record is filled with even more nuance and emotional production and vocal work. Charli chronicling her thoughts and questioning the idea of becoming a parent is enough to make anyone root for her and this song is truly stunning in its arrangement and effective messaging of that wish for purpose and motherhood.
A few pleasant surprises for me were the tracks “B2b” with Tinashe and even “Mean girls” with frequent Daft Punk collaborator and Strokes’ frontman Julian Casablancas.
“B2b” is nothing short of fantastic with its heightened, edm-esque instrumental as well as the two trailblazing pop icons effortlessly sliding all over the beat. I love the fact that both Charli and Tinashe use this song to boost each other up and remind everyone how far they’ve come as individual artists. As they both have experienced similar career trajectories from bursting onto the scene 10+ years ago to now experiencing their biggest years in the industry yet. Absolutely astounding.
“Mean girls,” while having been the most susceptible to backlash and critique, I can’t help but adore. While the original was home to a jazzy piano centerpiece, this new version takes that portion and runs with it. While Charli shows off even more of her immense vocal talents, Casablancas croons and wails of lost love with his signature rasp and layered autotune reminiscent of Daft Punk’s “Instant Crush.”
While it may not be the most thoroughly constructed cut here, it still warms my heart as an avid Daft Punk and Strokes fan that we’re getting a song like this in 2024. I also think Casablancas inclusion works in a different perspective we haven’t really heard so far on the album, discussing the “hangover” of past relationships and growing older in contrast with the continuous “party” and carelessness presented across the tracklist.
While even more exciting and invigorating collabs await you by the end of the record, whether it be “365” with Shygirl, “Guess” with Billie Eilish or even “Spring breakers” with pop queen Kesha, the crown jewel of the album remains “Girl, so confusing” with Charli’s music industry twin Lorde.
When this original version was released, it was instantly being dissected and mulled over for clues and references to find out who exactly Charli was singing about and arguably “having beef with.” But only two weeks later, Lorde famously “worked it out on the remix” and discussed her own insecurities and struggles with self-esteem in tandem with Charli.
This song continues to be one of my favorites of the year for just how honest, open and heartfelt it is. While the original song could’ve painted these two as enemies with an ongoing feud, Lorde’s verse completely turned that theory on its head. This track is truly about how two friends can sometimes drift apart but also reclaim their love and admiration for one another and how connected they’ve always felt, something I think any of us can relate to.
As Charli continues on her immaculate collaborative SWEAT tour with Troye Sivan, BRAT and its new sister album Completely different proceed to capture the world over with their complex song structures, endlessly danceable beats and inherently human storytelling. It’s also never made me happier to call myself a Charli xcx fan, as she continues to reinvent herself and has only become more successful and celebrated in the process. With the whole world riding for her, I can’t wait to see where she goes from here. “Living that life is romantic, right?”
BRAT (Original): 10/10
BRAT (Completely Different): 9.5/10
Listen: https://youtu.be/jfL8Vu9PfW8?si=aohhDhaa-nlGfCTQ
Watch: https://youtu.be/LgBMFg7ZgJw?si=xwHDLjB5d_yTvWMy
Support: https://www.charlixcx.com/
