‘Brat’ - Charli XCX brings us into her world of 24/7 partying and unabashed confidence
Charli XCX’s Brat has finally arrived and it’s everything we’ve been waiting for and more. The album touches on themes of unhinged confidence as well as themes of deep introspection and contemplation. Given that her album has been in the works with A-list producers such as A.G. Cook, EASYFUN and Hudson Mohawke, the production is next level.
I was lucky enough to experience the album before the release date as I was able to get a ticket to one of her listening parties in NYC. The party I attended was at Rough Trade in Manhattan. Upon entering, we were given exclusive posters specific to the date of the listening party, and one lucky raffle winner was given a USB at the end of the party with the entire album uploaded including bonus tracks.
Through Brat, Charli XCX embraces all aspects of pop culture. She not only accepts both the good and the bad of what comes with fame, but she seems to lean into it with a sort of campiness in songs like “360,” “Von Dutch” and “365”. There are also parts of the album where she becomes vulnerable and opens up about her emotions surrounding friends, relationships and her place in the world in songs like “Girl, so confusing,” “Talk talk” and “So I.”
This project feels like something that Charli has been waiting for years to make. From a first listen, the album isn’t as cohesive as everyone had been predicting, as not every track on the album is a party/rave banger, but the project feels like it is uniquely her’s. Every note, every beat, every melody feels intentional and each song has a clear message about the way she’s feeling in this moment.
With the album opener, “360”, it’s clear that Charli has an appreciation for the chronically online world, referencing some of the biggest internet “it girls” of this generation like Julia Fox and Gabbriette Bechtel. Through this song, we hear her entering spaces with a brand new aura of confidence, proclaiming to everyone that “I’m your favorite reference”.
As we move deeper into the album, we start to see the different facets peaking out behind the explosion of confidence that was presented to us in the album opener. In songs like “Sympathy is a knife” and “I might say something stupid”, although wildly different tracks sonically, we start to see thoughts of jealousy and insecurity. Trying to be the “it girl” at all times can be draining and negative thoughts can begin to crowd your mind as we see in “Sympathy is a knife” while “I might say something stupid” surrounds themes of dealing with imposter syndrome and feeling like you don’t belong in certain spaces.
The abrupt transition from “Sympathy is a knife” to “Talk talk” signaled a change in both the tempo and intensity of the album. While still covering topics relating to Charli’s raw, deep emotions, “Talk talk” is an ethereal, pulsing dance track about wanting to know someone’s true feelings and wanting to keep an open line of communication within a relationship. You can clearly hear A.G. Cook’s work within this track as well as Hudson Mohawke. “Everything is romantic” is aptly titled as the song is describing exactly that. Charli paints multiple pictures of both seemingly beautiful and ugly things but nonetheless finds the beauty within all of it. The tail end of the song where she sings “fall in love again and again” harks back to her song “party 4 u”, where we hear gorgeous harmonies overlaying on top of one another until both the lyrics and harmonies congeal into the rest of the track and almost become part of the instrumentation in the background.
Certain songs on the rest of the album like “Rewind”, “Apple” and “Girl, so confusing”, once again display themes of insecurity and unwarranted comparisons to others. With the production being so intense and high-energy, it takes a lot to dissect the lyrics when all you want to do is dance. “Rewind”, sonically, takes us back to the heydays of someone like Kesha with its catchy Y2K techno-sounding production. Both this song and “Apple”, in my opinion, are some of the catchiest songs on the album, using a mixture of sounds from various decades to produce pure pop music that seems reminscent of something 20 years ago but at the same time, something 20 years into the future.
The song “So I” is a beautiful tribute and ballad to Charli’s late friend and game-changing producer, Sophie. Charli references Sophie’s song “It’s okay to cry”, claiming that she does cry often when thinking of her friend. One of my favorite lyrics from the entire album comes from this song which is “when I’m on stage sometimes I lie. Say that I like singing these songs you left behind”.
Closing out Brat with both “Mean Girls” and “365”, Charli brings us back into the fun, unserious and carefree writing and production that we know her best for. “Mean Girls” is a dedication to all the girls who know exactly who they are, aren’t concerned with impressing anyone and are unashamed in doing whatever they want. It’s a very liberating song with aggressive production that I can see DJs blasting throughout underground raves and clubs everywhere. “365” follows a similar notion. Charli XCX has become known for iconic album closers such as “Track 10”, “Visions” and “Lipgloss”, and “365” does not disappoint. It is a track that is a neverending party, hence the name “365”. The album closer is a journey through different forms of production and never really settles anywhere, which makes this song such a rollercoaster to listen to. Charli ended Brat with the confidence she started with at the beginning of the album.
Brat, in my personal opinion, is the album of the summer. The album has already created a life of its own across the internet and is helping to kickstart a culture shift of individuality and nonconformity among its listeners. Brat, to me, is all about self-expression. Yes, there are times when we feel insecure and can be our own worst enemy, but we are all icons in our own way when we are completely honest with ourselves and we, dare I say, stop giving a fuck?
