On June 7 of this year, Charli XCX released her sixth studio album “BRAT.”
Since she began releasing music in 2012, Charli XCX has been a staple in pop and club music. Her new album was highly anticipated prior to its release and has been a huge success with the lead single, “Von Dutch” amassing 73 million streams on Spotify.
The album, with its now iconic lime green cover, has become a cultural phenomenon, spurring on “brat summer.” The brat summer aesthetic means embracing an attitude of imperfection, spontaneity, and being care-free.
“BRAT” opens with “360”. This track introduces the brat summer aesthetic with lyrics about dancing, fame, female empowerment and being an icon. This is a strong opening track that immediately conveys the overall vibe of the album.
“Yeah, 360 / When you’re in the mirror do you like what you see / When you’re in the mirror you’re just looking at me / I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia.”
The album’s second track “Club Classics” is an instant club classic in and of itself while highlighting artists that have made and produced cult classic club music. In the song, she references herself as well as music producers A.G. Cook and SOPHIE.
“When I go to the club, I wanna hear those club classics / Club classics, club, club classics / Yeah, I wanna dance to me, I wanna dance to A.G / I wanna dance with George, I wanna dance to SOPHIE.”
Track three “Sympathy is a knife” is existential and self-critical, while still being an upbeat dance track. On this track Charli talks about insecurities and comparing herself to other people. The track deals with heavy topics but is very energetic, making it one of the most versatile on the album.
“Don’t know why / All this sympathy is just a knife / Why I can’t even grit my teeth and lie / I feel all these feelings I can’t control.”
The next track, “I might say something stupid” follows the existential theme of “Sympathy is a knife” but with a very different musical style. It’s slow and primarily vocal with a simple synth backing track. This track deviates from the rest of the album but still maintains the electric quality that is so central to the album and to Charli XCX’s discography.
The lyrics to this track are very personally reflective, as if she is opening up to someone about herself and how she feels. This track is the most intimate on the album and it feels like a look into Charli’s life and career overall.
“Used to live just for the party, door is open / I’m famous but not quite / But I’m perfect for the background / One foot in a normal life.”
The album’s fifth track, “Talk Talk” switches back into the upbeat, party motif of most of the album. This song depicts an online relationship that has been kept a secret and Charli wanting to get closer in person. In the age of online situationships this song strikes a chord for many people.
“Wish you’d talk, talk / Wish you’d talk, talk to me / I think you’re gettin’ closer / ‘Cause I’ve been gettin’ nervous.”
The next track “Von Dutch” is the lead single from the album and leads away from existentialism into a high-energy diss track. On this track Charli talks about a person being jealous of her and she says that they should just admit it.
“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 obsessin’, just confess it, put your hands up / It’s obvious, I’m your number one.”
“Everything is romantic” the album’s seventh track, is arguably the epitome of brat summer. This is another infectious dance track which encourages romanticizing everything, from bad tattoos to drinks on the beach, “everything is romantic.”
“Bad tattoos on leather-tanned skin / Jesus Christ on a plastic sign / Fall in love again and again / Winding roads, doing manual drive.”
The next track, “Rewind” returns to the earlier existential and self-critical theme found in “Sympathy is a knife,” also paired with an upbeat backing track. Charli talks
about personal insecurities and wishing she could go back to a time before those feelings surfaced.
“I hate these doubts that keep runnin’ through my mind / Sometimes I really think it would be cool to rewind.”
The ninth track, “So I” is another self-reflective track. This track explores the grief of losing someone important, both as a colleague and a friend. The song is about producer SOPHIE, a long-time collaborator and friend of Charli, who passed away in 2021. The lyricism and vocals on this track stand out as some of the best on the album and are certainly the most sincere and heartfelt.
“When I’m on stage sometimes I lie / Say that I love singin’ these songs you left behind / (And I know you always said) “It’s okay to cry” / So, I know I can cry, I can cry, so I cry.”
The following track, “Girl, so confusing” explores the complexities of female relationships. This is a very relatable track for many people and has inspired videos on TikTok from people who have gone through confusing and complex friendships, along with other relationships such as mother-daughter relationships.
“Yeah, I don’t know if you like me / Sometimes I think you might hate me / Sometimes I think I might hate you / Maybe you just wanna be me.”
Track eleven, “Apple” explores familial relationships and your own part in them. This track is another example of an upbeat backing track masking some of the emotional depth of the lyrics, the “apple” metaphor also makes the meaning of the song less overt.
“Apple” has blown up on TikTok with more than 700 thousand videos using the track. TikTok user Kelley Heyer created choreography for the track which is what rocketed it into TikTok fame with even Charli herself making a video using the choreography.
“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.”
The next track “B2b” is a breakup track in which Charli talks about not wanting to go back to someone and trying to improve upon herself. This is another clear party track, perfect for a club environment but also a fun listen in day-to-day life.
“Back to, back to, back to, back to you / I don’t wanna fall right back to us / Maybe you should run right back to her / I don’t wanna go back, back.”
The thirteenth track on the album is “Mean girls,” another track that very much embodies brat summer. This track is a very pro-girl anthem that, similarly to “Everything is romantic,” romanticizes every aspect of girlhood, the good and the bad.
“This one’s for all my mean girls / This one’s for all my bad girls / This one’s for all my break-your-boyfriend’s-heart girls / For all my tearing-sh*t-apart girls.”
The second to last track on the album is titled “I think about it all the time.” This track fantasizes about what the future holds for Charli and her partner George Daniel of The 1975. Charli talks about worrying that she’s run out of time to become a mother and about the idea of being a mother giving her life a new purpose.
“I think about it all the time / That I might run out of time / But I finally met my baby / And a baby might be mine.”
The final track on the album is “365,” a reprise of the first track on the album, “360.” This song is focused on partying and clubbing, and embodies the brat summer lifestyle. This track is a fun wrap-up and a good tie-in to the first track, making the album feel very full circle.
“No, I never go home, don’t sleep, don’t eat / Just do it on repeat, keep (bumpin’ that) / When I’m in the club, yeah (I’m bumpin’ that) / 365 party girl (I’m bumpin’ that).”
The release of “BRAT” was followed up three days later, on June 10, by a deluxe edition titled, “Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not.” This edition has three bonus tracks, “Hello goodbye,” “Guess” and “Spring Breakers.”
The album was also followed by the release of “The girl, so confusing version with lorde” featuring fellow pop artist Lorde, ending a speculated long-standing feud between the two
This album has had an immense cultural impact since its release. It has even had political impact with Charli posting on X (formerly Twitter), “kamala IS brat” after President
Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race. This tweet caused another wave of media attention related to the album. Stay tuned for November 8th to see if Brat gets nominated for a Grammy.
