Listening to the singles ahead of BRAT’s release, it was clear Charli XCX was going back to her messy club roots after the polished CRASH. What no one expected was the vulnerable lyricism through which Charli examines her relationship to fame and other women in the business. She radically moves between her classic “I’m hot shit” manner and a lesser-seen insecurity within herself and her career status throughout the new record, exposing more prickly layers underneath the untouchable, it-girl façade.
Sonically, BRAT channels the outrageous production and personal nature of Charli’s pandemic record—how i’m feeling now—with the fun, sexy, dance-driven hooks of Charli and Pop 2. It’s the perfect metamorphosis of her artistry, and a wickedly energetic romp through the art pop innovator’s world. Every move she makes as a musician is so distinctly hers, and it’s reassuring that she couldn’t be anyone else even if she tried.
Charli leads BRAT with tracks proclaiming her number one status—a fantasy-fulfilling figure with the ability to make all of your club dreams come true—before revealing a much more complicated psyche behind the air of unshakeable confidence. A few standouts from BRAT (“Sympathy is a knife,” “I might say something stupid,” and “Girl, so confusing”) grapple with self-doubt, comparison, and the ever-transforming image of success. She levels her issues of insecurity with her contemporaries in the ruthless popsphere, juggling natural feelings of jealously and the manufactured competition spurred by fame. Her diary-like approach to lyricism works particularly well in this setting, as she plainly states her dread-fueled feelings with brash honesty, requiring bravery in of itself.
It’s the vanity and vulnerability of BRAT that defines the summer mood going forward. It’s the whiplash between experiencing near-delusional levels of self-esteem in one minute and a rock bottom existential crisis in the next. Being a brat means airing out these mood changes, and honoring your feelings as they evolve. You can genuinely ponder motherhood in one moment and then bump a line of coke at a party in another, because it’s all about the present feeling. Hysterics aren’t out of the question, and they are your god-given right as a girl in this brutal, confusing world. Brats can be egotistical, fearless, catty, sensitive, romantic, messy, melodramatic, jealous, divine—as long as they’re true to themselves.