On June 7, 2024, Charli XCX released her much awaited album BRAT to the world. It immediately took spot #2 on the UK Albums chart, among other music charts worldwide. From TikTok dances to brat wall to Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, the album has taken the world by storm. It touches on themes of girlhood, success, music industry pitfalls, and the UK club scene. Let’s break down some of the songs from the album.
The album opens with the track “360”. This song celebrates the success of women artists and the It girls of the internet. The music video for the song also features these It girls, from Julia Fox to Alex Consani. Charli references many of these girls throughout the song with the lyrics, “Call me Gabriette, you’re so inspired” or “I’m so Julia.” With these lyrics, Charli is highlighting these women who are making big strides in many industries while celebrating her own success in the music industry. She is considered one of the defining artists for the hyperpop genre, and the release of BRAT has further solidified her influence as an artist for the pop genre. Also, the main synth melody is insanely catchy in the best way possible. You’ll catch yourself “bumpin’ that” for days on end.
Club Classics pays tribute to all the artists who are staples of the current club pop scene and who Charli has worked with or who have influenced her music. She’s also celebrating her own music as she sings, “Yeah, I wanna dance to me, I wanna dance to A.G. / I wanna dance with George, I wanna dance to SOPHIE.” This is another great example of Charli celebrating those that she takes inspiration from and works with on the regular. A.G. Cook has worked on a number of her albums and SOPHIE is also considered one of the defining artists of hyperpop. This song also references club classics with an exciting synth beat and Charli’s voice loop “right now,” while it’s becoming a club classic in its own right.
The third song, Sympathy is a knife, takes a more serious turn with its lyrics. Charli sings, “I don’t wanna share this space / I don’t wanna force a smile / This one girl taps my insecurities / Don’t know if it’s real or if I’m spiraling.” While Charli hasn’t revealed who the girl she talks about in this song is, that doesn’t downplay the insecurity that she is expressing in the lyrics. The music industry often tries to pit women artists against each other, making them believe you’re only a success if you’re at the top of the charts. With this song, Charli is expressing how hard it is to control that insecurity and jealousy of this other artist and her success. She sings how she wishes she could “grit her teeth and lie” about what she is feeling. The title Sympathy is a knife is in reference to how sympathy from friends only makes Charli feel worse about where she is in comparison to this artist. It cuts deep and it’s a jealousy that she has no control over. The intense low bass accompanying this track and the higher staccato synth during the chorus really make you understand the complicated feelings that Charli is going through in this song. It’s a specific feeling that a lot of girls can probably relate to.
Girl, so confusing continues with the themes of women in the music industry. This song is confirmed to be about New Zealand singer-songwriter, Lorde. She and Charli released a remix of this song shortly after the release of the album. On the remix, Charli sings, “Can’t tell if you wanna see me / Falling over and failing / And you can’t tell what you’re feeling / I think I know how you feel.” She is expressing how she can’t figure out what Lorde’s true feelings about her are, while also recognizing that she doesn’t know what her true feelings about the other artist are. In her verse, Lorde sings, “I was trapped in the hatred / And your life seemed so awesome / I never thought for a second / My voice was in your head,” mirroring the lyrics from Charli’s verse. Their experiences are not the same, but once they realize they’ve been feeling similar things about each other, the artists are able to form a connection and understand they don’t hate each other. The music industry wants them to because it creates an interesting narrative. In the next verse Lorde and Charli sing together, ”It’s you and me on the coin / The industry loves to spend,” which further highlights how they were being pawned against each other. With the release of this remix, they put the feud to bed and emerged understanding each other better than ever. It’s the smartest and most iconic thing they possibly could have done.
The album comes to an end with 365, a faster remix of 360. If you loop the album, the song goes perfectly into 360, adding another layer to, “No, I never go home, don’t sleep, don’t eat / Just do it on repeat, keep (Bumpin that).” Towards the end, the song gets faster and more out of control, like what will happen if you just keep on partying non-stop. This song feels like a montage of the entire album. It’s the perfect blend of exciting and anxiety-inducing, which the songs switch between throughout the course of the album. It’s the perfect way to wrap up the album because it is an end and beginning all in one song.
This album perfectly balances the upbeat, synth, clubpop components with the earnest lyrics about the trials of fame and girlhood. And while music is for everyone, I think BRAT is for the girls. It touches on themes that a lot of girls and women feel because we are living in a society that is constantly trying to make us insecure and keep us from having power. This past summer has felt really big for women in music, and Charli and BRAT have contributed to that so much. This album is addicting and empowering. It has you feeling like an icon because Charli says you are an icon. BRAT summer may be ‘over’, but BRAT’s message still rings true in the hearts of people all over the world.