Charli XCX Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Advertisement
Register
Charli XCX Wiki
XCXpedia - The Charli XCX Wiki
625
pages
in: Albums, Brat, 2024, Discography

BRAT (album)

Edit


This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).

“Was struggling to find the words for this earlier. Every record I make is my ‘favourite record’ once i finish it, but I think this one might be my all time favourite forever.”
―via Rolling Stone[1]

BRAT (cover-art stylized in all lowercase, but in online streaming services stylized in all caps) is the sixth studio album by British singer-songwriter, Charli xcx. It was released on June 7, 2024, through Atlantic Records.[2]

Background[]

2023[]

In February, Aitchison revealed to Vogue she had signed a "brand new recording contract" the day before the episode for the magazine's In The Bag series was filmed. "Two albums, baby. We're in business", she continued.[3][4]

On April 30, the singer gave access to her new Instagram account "360_brat", which was created on December 2020.[5] Despite Charli stating that the account itself is not part of an album rollout, she has posted information about the development of BRAT as well as the producers the record will feature.

Described as a "fun little single" on Instagram, "In The City", featuring Sam Smith, was released on October 19 as a standalone single[6] after being teased in the "Speed Drive" music video as part of the promotion for the Barbie soundtrack.[7][8]

2024[]

On January 30, the artist announced a special show of hers, due to February 22nd, in collaboration with Boiler Room titled "Party Girl" with special guests such as A. G. Cook, George Daniel and EASYFUN, among others.[9] Days later, the pre-save link for the record's main single was released along with its artwork.[10]

In her set for the Boiler Room party, Charli teased songs from the upcoming album such as "Spring breakers", its lead single, "Von dutch" (and its remix with Addison Rae), "Everything", "Club classics", ''Mean girls'', ''Talk talk'', ''365'' and "Spiraling".

On February 24, Charli twitted about the album again saying: "i love you angels i love partying with you and i love all of you who wanted to be there but couldnt. xcx6 is a club record and i cant wait to party around the world with you all xxx".[11] She later added: "i was born to make dance music.. i came from the clubs.. xcx6 is the album i’ve always wanted to make".[12]

On February 28, Charli announced via all her social networks the name of the album, its duration, and the number of songs. The release date was not revealed; however, Charli said it was coming in Summer 2024.[13]

On April 2, Charli sent out voice notes via her community phone number in which she said the name of one track from the album, revealing the album’s full tracklist; though not in order. [14]

The next day, via social media, Charli announced the album's track listing, and release date, June 7.  The double single, "Club classics / B2b" was also released.

On April 30, an account called ‘bratoutjune7’ on TikTok, this is most likely created as a roll out of promotion for the album. The account posted three slideshow videos and each said a different word or two, that is ‘brat’ ‘out’ and ‘june 7’. The slideshows are pinned to the top of the account page saying the words in order.

The account has now been mysteriously taken down/deleted on the same day it was created.

On June 4 and 5, Charli replaced all of her album covers with covers stylized like the BRAT cover; along with changing her stage name from "Charli XCX" to "Charli xcx". She also changed her logo on the next day.

On June 9, 2024, Charli announced a deluxe version of the album, titled ''Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not'', through her social media, featuring 3 bonus tracks, "Spring breakers, "Guess" and "Hello goodbye''. This version released on the next day.

Inspiration[]

At the Roxy Theatre in New York City, Charli screened "The brat collection" a series of films that inspired Brat: Party Monster, Daisies, To Die For, Party Girl, Project X, Velvet Goldmine, Across The Universe. When asked why she picked these films she explained:[15]

"Well they all have a brat like energy to them. I’m not really inspired by other music when I make my albums. I’m more inspired by an atmosphere or a feeling or a persona. To me character and personality is the backbone to good music and artistry. If there’s no persona there’s just a song. It’s 2 dimensional, it’s flat. So all of these films in some way link to the world of brat. Whether it’s Suzanne Stone’s extreme desire for attention in To Die For or the story of rivalry and lust between musicians in The Velvet Goldmine, the Marie’s in daisies brat coded behavior or the biggest most ridiculous party of all time in Project X there are things in there that directly link to the energy of brat."
"360['s music video], was very much inspired by the energy of daisies. Just this idea of the world being shit so just be a brat. I love that concept. Obviously in daisies it’s coming from a much more political angle but there’s a punk ethos that still runs through the video."

Additionally Wild Child, Human Traffic, Modulations, Basic Instinct, Yannick, and Intimate Confessions Of A Chinese Courtesan, also inspired BRAT but couldn't be screened.

Composition[]

Lyrics[]

“Lyrically, this is quite a different record for me. I’ve written the songs almost in the way I would write texts to my friends or based on things I would say to them on FaceTime. We talk a lot about pop culture and music and it’s been really fun to gossip about the songs we go. They’ll ask ‘Oh, who is this one about? Is this about a friend? Is it about an ex?’ It has fuelled this fun, gossipy narrative which permeates the album.”
―via Vogue Singapore[16]

In an interview with Rolling Stone, she compared her lyrical approach on Brat vs Crash:[17] "You would never actually say, ‘Me? I let the good ones go!’ We’d probably be like, ‘Oh my God, I’m a fucking mess. I keep falling for fucking idiot guys.’"

Singles[]

  1. "Von dutch": Released as the lead single for the album on February 29, 2024, along its respective music video.[18][19]
  2. "Club classics / B2b": Released as a double single for the album on April 3, 2024.
  3. "360": Released as the third single for the album on May 10 2024, along its respective music video.
  4. ''Apple'': Released as the fourth single for the album on June 7, 2024.

Remixes[]

Main article: Brat and it's completely different but also still brat

Track listing[]

Standard edition
No. TitleWriter(s)Producer(s) Length
1. "360"  Charlotte Aitchison · Alexander Cook · Finn Keane · Henry Walter · Blake Slatkin · Omer FediA. G. Cook · Cirkut 2:13
2. "Club classics"  Aitchison · George DanielA. G. Cook · George Daniel 2:33
3. "Sympathy is a knife"  Aitchison · Keane · Jonathan ShaveEASYFUN 2:31
4. "I might say something stupid"  Aitchison · Mike LévyGesaffelstein 1:49
5. "Talk talk"  Aitchison · Cook · Hudson MohawkeHudson Mohawke · A. G. Cook[a] 2:41
6. "Von dutch"  Aitchison · CookEASYFUN 2:44
7. "Everything is romantic"  Aitchison · Pablo Díaz-ReixaA. G. Cook · Charli xcx · El Guincho · Jae Deal[a] · Jasper Harris[a] · Marlonwiththeglasses[a] 3:23
8. "Rewind"  Aitchison · Cook · WalterA. G. Cook · Cirkut 2:48
9. "So I"  Aitchison · Keane · ShaveA. G. Cook · The Invisible Men 3:31
10. "Girl, so confusing"  Aitchison · CookA. G. Cook 3:31
11. "Apple"  Aitchison · Daniel · Lotus IV · Noonie BaoCharli xcx · A. G. Cook · George Daniel · Lotus IV 2:31
12. "B2b"  Aitchison · LévyA. G. Cook · Gesaffelstein · Omer Fedi 2:58
13. "Mean girls"  Aitchison · Cook · MohawkeA. G. Cook · Hudson Mohawke 3:09
14. "I think about it all the time"  Aitchison · Cook · Keane · ShaveA. G. Cook · EASYFUN 2:15
15. "365"  Aitchison · Cook · WalterA. G. Cook · Cirkut 3:23
Total length:
 41:23

[a] signifies an additional producer.

B-Sides[]

  • "edit" (Track 3 on the Von dutch 7" vinyl and USB)
  • "Cc nrg" (Track 3 on the Club classics / B2b 7" vinyl)
  • "An idea" (Track 4 on the Club classics / B2b 7" vinyl)

Cut-tracks[]

“I am releasing a lot of my demos that won't make it to the album & playing them at my shows & DJ sets. Just to show that there are a lot of tracks that don't make it-not because they're bad (in fact, some of them are really good), it's just that they don't fit with the record. I'm into the idea of this massive amount of material being out there, saturating the fan base with all of these things that could have possibly happened.”
―Autre Magazine[20]
  • "123, It’s Time"
  • "20 Seconds Now" [leaked (snippet)]
  • "50,000"[21]
  • "Annie"[22]
  • "Barbie Girl" (Originally a pitch for the Barbie soundtrack, sampled in the Boiler Room set)
  • "BS"
  • "Closer" [leaked]
  • "Cut Me Off"[21]
  • "Don't You Know Who I Am"[22]
  • "Eternal Flame" (cover)[22][leaked]
  • Fantasy Idea ("She got a fantasy")[21]
  • "For Once, I Will"
  • "Veronica (Try Harder Than Ever)"
  • "Fuck U"
  • "The Garden"[22]
  • "Girl$" [leaked]
  • "Get This Right"
  • "He Wears His Sunglasses at Night"[22]
  • "Highs and Lows"
  • "Honestly IDC" [leaked]
  • "Hurt You First"[22]
  • "I Always Know"
  • "I Don't Like You"
  • "I Don't Want Your Love (feat. Ellie)"[23]
  • "I Tried To"
  • "Kept It To Myself"
  • "Kiss Kiss Goodbye" [leaked]
  • "Make You Mine" [leaked]
  • "Over It"
  • Project X Idea (Inspired by the movie of the same name)[21]
  • "Put Your Love On The Line (feat. Robyn)"[23]
  • "Tale as Old as Time"/"True Love Never Dies"[22][23]
  • "Take My House!" [leaked]
  • "Throw Myself Into a Wall"[22]
  • "It’s U"
  • "What I Got (feat. Robyn)"[23]
  • "You Make Me Wanna Die (feat. Må)"[23]
  • "XOXO" [leaked (snippet)]
  • "Xtra"

Impact[]

People's Sadie Bell linked the album cover with the nature of the album, which Charli xcx called "confrontational". Dubbed the "Brat summer" trend, the style of album cover and the specific shade of green became a viral sensation after a "Brat generator" tool surfaced online that allowed users to replicate the cover with their own custom text. The London Eye landmark was lit up in lime green on the day of the album's release. National Geographic acknowledged the album and the "brat girl" persona in a Brat-themed article discussing rebellious female icons throughout history, including Cleopatra, Wu Zetian, Lucrezia Borgia, Georgiana Cavendish, and Aurore Dupin (aka George Sand).

In polticial campaining[]

Kamala HQ Twitter Header

Banner picture of Kamala HQ.

As part of their 2024 United Kingdom general election campaign, the Green Party of England and Wales posted a replica of the album cover to social media that read "vote green" instead of "brat". Mayor of London Sadiq Khan received a mixed response when replicating the cover on his Instagram to promote the success of the Ultra Low Emission Zone scheme. After Joe Biden decided to withdraw from the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the official Biden-Harris campaign profile renamed itself "Kamala HQ" and changed its banner picture in imitation of the album cover, replacing "brat" with "kamala hq". This occurred after Charli xcx tweeted about Harris saying "kamala IS brat". Charli xcx later stated that although not meant as an explicit endorsement, she was "happy to help prevent democracy from failing forever". Multiple TikTok videos have shown edits of songs from the album with footage of Harris in the background. Some analysts have suggested the connection between the campaign and album will create enthusiasm among young voters

Critical Reception[]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Brat received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 95 out of 100 from 24 critic scores. The website's report reads, "Critics have embraced the album's rave-influenced sound that eliminates some of the accessibility (and guest stars) of prior album Crash in favor of a rawer, grittier, and more sophisticated sound that is no less fun. Club classic, indeed." As of August 2024, it ranks as the highest-rated album of 2024 and the 16th-highest-rated album of all time on the website. The review aggregator site AnyDecentMusic? compiled 28 reviews and gave the album an average of 8.7 out of 10. Critics praised Charli xcx's emotional vulnerability and several declared Brat to be one of her best albums, with Laura Snapes of The Guardian calling it a masterpiece.

Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as "bratty and brash" but "frequently vulnerable". Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone wrote that Brat was a hyperpop rollercoaster of post-Saturn return, early-thirties anxieties, and It-girl bravado". Ben Tipple from DIY saw the album as a manifestation of the singer's rave roots, dubbing it "an unmistakable representation of her very core; an exhilarating ode to the multiple facets of club culture".

Meaghan Garvey of Pitchfork lauded the album as "substantial in new ways for Charli" and gave it the distinction of Best New Music. Pitchfork also recognized "Von Dutch" and the "Girl, So Confusing" remix with Lorde as Best New Tracks upon their respective releases. Writing for Paste, Eric Bennett praised the album and described it as "messy and vulnerable... in a way Charli's work has lacked over the last decade".

Commercial performance[]

In the United Kingdom, Brat debuted at number two (selling 27,234 units) on the UK Albums Chart, earning Charli her second top ten charting album and her biggest opening week sales in the country. This sparked controversy among media outlets who accused Taylor Swift of hogging the number one spot in the UK by releasing a new version of her most recent album, The Tortured Poets Department, available only in the UK, the same week that Brat was released. As of 25 July 2024, Brat sold 71,738 copies in the country.

In the US, Brat debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units sold on its opening week, consisting of 40,000 pure album sales. With this feat, it became Charli's highest-charting album in the country. It also earned Charli her highest first week overall sales and her biggest streaming week ever with 46.72 million streams. As of 21 August 2024, it sold 500,000 copies in the country.

Cover Art[]

The album cover was initially made by Charli in June of 2022, and finalised with SPECIAL OFFER.[20] She discussed her design decisions to Vogue Singapore:[16] "I wanted to go with an offensive, off-trend shade of green to trigger the idea of something being wrong. I’d like for us to question our expectations of pop culture—why are some things considered good and acceptable, and some things deemed bad? I’m interested in the narratives behind that and I want to provoke people. I’m not doing things to be nice."

The album cover was received negatively by some fans, and in response Charli tweeted:[24] "i think the constant demand for access to women’s bodies and faces in our album artwork is misogynistic and boring."

In an interview with Rolling Stone, she further explained:[17]

"I struggle with the fact that art is taken at such face value in this day and age. More often than not, people will just digest the thing that’s in front of them and not ask questions. That makes me quite depressed because part of the fun of pop music and especially pop campaigns is figuring it all out. I’m not trying to give you something pretty, I’m trying to make you think, I’m trying to make you look at yourself and wonder why it bothers you so much that my face isn’t on the cover? What does that say about pop culture that that is so bothersome to you? What does that say about what you expect from your artists? What does that say about me as an artist? Does it make me stupid to do that? Does it make me brave to do that? Does it make me lazy to do that? There are so many conversations that my album cover opens up, and in my opinion they’re more interesting conversations than, ‘Oh my God, look how hot she looks.’ It’s a fine art conversation really."

Gallery[]

Physical copies[]

Promotional covers[]

During the advertising campaign "BRAT WEEK", which began following the release of BRAT, the album artworks for her previous records were changed to the same stylized covers on streaming platforms.

Trivia[]

  • On a Q&A done on May 12, 2024, on the @360_brat Instagram account, Charli revealed that other tentative titles for the album were "Desire" or "I WANT".
    • She came up with the title BRAT on March 16, 2022.
  • This album, how i'm feeling now, and the standard version of SUCKER are the only albums with no featured artist.

References[]

References[]

  1. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/charli-xcx-confirms-details-of-new-album-brat-37113/
  2. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1762841935298150690?s=20
  3. ↑ https://youtu.be/Y95rA8Tu9bI
  4. ↑ https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/news/charli-xcx-reveals-shes-signed-a-new-recording-contract-for-two-albums
  5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/360_brat
  6. ↑ https://diymag.com/news/charli-xcx-sam-smith-in-the-city
  7. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7jzzvKxgZ8
  8. ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/barbie-the-album/1689238301
  9. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1752388035550068797?s=20
  10. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1756004578565447887?s=20
  11. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1761429574490194253?s=20
  12. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1761435539864203735?s=20
  13. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1762841935298150690?s=20
  14. ↑ [1]
  15. ↑ https://www.roxycinemanewyork.com/stories/charli-xcx-presents-the-brat-collection/
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 https://vogue.sg/charli-xcx-cover-story/
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/music/features/charli-xcx-interview-brat-music-39628/
  18. ↑ https://music.apple.com/us/album/von-dutch-single/1732110349
  19. ↑ https://youtu.be/cwZ1L_0QLjw
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 https://www.reddit.com/r/charlixcx/comments/1bzaqfi/charli_talks_about_unreleased_music_a_film/
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Written in the same sessions/notebook as: "Club Classics", "Everything is Romantic", "Sympathy is a Knife" verse 2, "B2B" bridge, "Rewind".
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7
    BRAT diary entry (list of songs)
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Written in the same sessions/notebook as: "Mean Girls", "Von Dutch", "B2B", "Spring Breakers", "365", "360", "Sympathy is a Knife", "In The City".
  24. ↑ https://x.com/charli_xcx/status/1768332183058710956?lang=en
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement

Fan Feed

More Charli XCX Wiki