Brat is the sixth album from British electropop singer, Charli XCX. I’ve heard a few of her singles, such as “Boom Clap,” “Break the Rules,” and “Good Ones,” all of which I loved, but this was my first time listening to a full-length album of hers. She first got widespread mainstream attention from Icona Pop’s hit single, “I Love It,” and did the hook on Iggy Azalea’s song, “Fancy.” In my opinion, Charli’s the best part of both of those songs, because she’s a talented singer who incorporates a wide variety of styles into her music. That being said, how did I like this album?
We open up the album with the track, “360,” which has an infectious instrumental featuring a simple clapping rhythm and heavy synth bass. I also like the Julia Fox reference she makes in the chorus as well as her melodic flow over the club-friendly instrumental. I like her braggadocios lyrics as well, basically calling herself an icon for her impact in pop music, and bluntly telling the haters, “I don’t fucking care what you think.” “Club classics,” is quite an experience with those synth organs, watery electrobass, and pulsating drum beat. It’s a song that sonically is very varied, going from vocal sample and melodic synth-heavy to bass-heavy. It’s not my favorite, but it’s by no means a bad track. It’s definitely another track that’s made for dancing at a nightclub.
“Sympathy is a knife,” is a track featuring stabby synths, lyrically, Charli is very vulnerable. The track is suspected being about her comparing herself to Taylor Swift, when it comes to musical success. Taylor has tons of success Grammys-wise, and Charli hasn’t It’s incredibly refreshing to hear a mainstream pop artist talk about her insecurities about fame and success, even though she wishes that she didn’t have them. I get why she feels insecure, she’s been making music and performing since she was a teenager. Both her and Taylor have been making music for a relatively long time. It’s not the first time she’s been vulnerable on a record, as she’s talked about her struggles with her body image, which is something that’s relatable to so many people. I also like the phrase of “sympathy is a knife,” because instead of comforting her it feels disingenuous and like a knife that cuts deep. Another favorite.
“I Might Say Something Stupid,” features Charli’s auto-tuned voice over a minimalist drum beat, and synths that sound like something out of an NES game. It’s relatively short, but the gentle, melancholy sound of the track is a welcome addition to the record. It’s another relatable track as she’s talking about how she feels uncomfortable and out of place at parties, and features the line, “I’m famous but not quite.” Her relationship with the public spotlight as well as her feeling lost, makes it an incredibly introspective track. Following that, we have the track “Talk talk,” which has whirly synth melodies and a thumping drum beat. It’s another relatable track, where she sings about how she wishes her crush would make the first move, because she’s too nervous to do it herself. It’s got such a catchy chorus, and I love the production of the track.
“Von dutch,” the lead single off of the album, has these growly synths that sound like an engine winding up, it sounds practically other worldly. I like the bravado that she shows in the track, telling the fame-seeker she doesn’t like, to just admit that she’s jealous of her success. Charli really knows how to make a song that stays stuck in your head. She’s singing about a lifestyle of lavishness and success, while criticizing the girl who “won’t fuck unless he famous.” It’s a pretty simple track lyrically, but that chorus will remain engrained in your head for weeks. I also like that line, “I get money, you get mad, because the bank’s shut.” This track is easily my favorite one off of the entire record, because, despite it’s lyrical simplicity, it’s instrumentally a blast, reminding me of a Deadmau5 track. Her reason for writing it was also interesting, because in her words, “Sometimes there’s just those people who you know are fucking watching you. You know they’re watching your every move.” I like her turning it into a positive, as Charlie says, “This song is kind of about that feeling of “ugh I know you’re fucking watching me, so if you’re fucking watching, I’m gonna be a fucking star.” I can definitely see why she made this the lead single. At one point, I had it on repeat for 30 minutes, that’s how much I love “Von dutch.”
“Everything is romantic,” begins with orchestral instrumentation, featuring violins, horns, and flutes, before returning to the electrodance sound we’ve grown familiar with. She raps in the first verse, but I especially like the second verse, because it’s visually engaging, as she sings, “Lemons on the trees and on the ground. Sandals on the stirrups of the scooters. Neon orange drinks on the beach. Four generations make up a family.” It’s definitely a romantic sounding track. “Rewind,” features heavy jagged synths, rewind sound effects, and a simple kick drum/clap rhythm. I like her vulnerability on the track as she wishes she could “go back in time to when I wasn’t insecure,” and how she wasn’t always concerned about her weight. The dreamy synths in the outro are also a very nice touch.
“So I,” is a drastically different song than most of the cuts on this record. It has a sad, soothing sound to it, and thematically is probably the most personal track on the album. The song is about her friend and collaborator, SOPHIE, who tragically died in 2021. Charli sings about how she regrets pushing her away, how SOPHIE influenced her, and how it’s hard for her to perform songs of hers that she worked with SOPHIE on. Losing someone close is indescribably hard, because there’s so much we wish we could’ve said and done. If we could go back in time and fix the past before they died, whether it’s spending the precious time with them we can never get back, or being kinder to them. Multiple artists have credited SOPHIE with influencing them, and seeing Charli open her soul to the listener on this track is truly beautiful.
“Girl, so confusing,” is suspected to be about the singer Lorde, who looks somewhat similar to Charli, and is about how complicated female relationships can be, because there’s a lot of women in the music industry that tear each other down, unfortunately. “Apple,” is another solid track, I like the first line where someone she’s observed feels like as if they’ve become a reflection of Charli. I also like her singing about the traits she’s inherited from her parents, including the ones that she doesn’t like. “B2b,” which stands for Back 2 back, is a catchy, romantic track, with hard hitting 808s, and wobbly synths. The song has a very long chorus but, goddamn, is it catchy. The verse and bridge are incredibly short, but instrumentally it’s an engaging track. Another favorite. “Mean girls,” is another favorite track of mine, describing a stereotypical “mean girl,” in a pretty humorous way in the verses, and I like the instrumentation of the track as well, with the hard hitting synths, random piano interlude, and thumping electronic percussion. “I think about it all the time,” is another solid personal track, where Charli talks about things such as death and motherhood in her future. I like how the song is composed instrumentally, and how she wonders if motherhood would give her life new purpose. Even with fame, she wants to feel like more than just a famous musician.
Finally, we have the last track, “365,” which has a reworked instrumental of the first track, and is a total party track, the title of the track referring to the amount of days in the year, all of which Charli wants to spend partying. I like the multiple phases of the track, and the “bumpin’ that,” refrain is catchy. It’s a strong end to the album.
Brat is a practically flawless album, and I admire the more serious lyrical themes of this album Charli touches on such as death of a loved one, motherhood, fame, insecurity, body image, and self esteem. The party tracks are also a blast, and Charli’s voice both with and without autotune, is angelic. The production is varied, while also sounding cohesive, as the tracks transition well into each other. The hyper pop and dance sounds of this album are intentional as it’s a call back to her earliest days as a performer in the underground London rave scene. Charli is vulnerable, bombastic, and romantic on this album. Her knack for creating club hits and raw emotional tracks, just shows how talented of a singer and songwriter she is. There’s one track that I’m not a fan of personally, which is why I can’t go the Fantano route and give it a 10, but this album is a hyper pop masterpiece and is easily one of the best albums of 2024.
Overall Score: 9/10
Favorite Tracks: “360,” “Sympathy is a knife,” “Talk talk,” “Von dutch,” “So I,” “B2b,”
Least Favorite Tracks: “Club classics”
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwZ1L_0QLjw
Genres: Electronic/Synth Pop