Following ‘Crash’, Charli XCX leans on finding more internal resonance within the club dance floor. In ‘Brat’, Charli XCX not only embraces more sharply produced electropop but also carries her most sparkling melodies and emotionally nuanced writing that results in her best album to date.
When ‘Crash’ was put out with a bit of a divisive reception overall, a record that was meant to close Charli XCX’s deal with her former label, Asylum Records, there was an inkling of interest on whether or not she would continue doubling down on this sleeker electropop bounce from that album or return to the jagged futuristic hyperpop that she has roamed in for quite some time now. That food for thought, however, was quite answered due to some of the soundtrack contributions that she has brought on since then, carrying the familiar electropop sheen that she can carry with aplomb. Yet, there is still a lingering question of where she is going to take that sound in the future. Given how ‘Crash’ felt like a quick crash course to get her away from the label as soon as possible, it leaves so many sonic ideas to become fragments of what could have been more complete and interesting in the composition, production, and writing department. Now, with the singles showing more promise than ever before, ‘BRAT’ ends up like a much more effective affair.
If ‘Crash’ sets up a more prim touch on the commercial electropop schtick that Charli XCX goes back to, ‘BRAT’ straight-up leans on its club-centric sides and slides it up to the maximum, a part that Charli has always carried through the earliest parts of her career but has a much more lively effect as she just sounds more enamored and striking in her performances all throughout the album. If the performance sparks through, so does the production. Bringing in producers such as A.G Cook, Gesaffelstein, Hudson Mohawke, EASYFUN, amongst other names to create a palpable set of club beats that brings enough weight in its textures but also potency to the melodies that mostly carry an exceptional quality from the gentle to the energetic sides of the dancefloor. The wiry repetition of ‘B2b’ with its punchy zapping synths and drums, the chaotic warbling that pops up on ‘Club classics’ that makes for a haughty dance vamping, the bass-heavy banger of ‘Von dutch’ with its exceptionally bombastic hook, the Hudson Mohawke Euro-pop marvel of ‘Talk talk’ coming from the ray of gleaming synth notes, the orchestral romanticism of ‘Everything is romantic’ just before it chops down into a haphazard electronic stomp and then shifting back into a slow crescendo that bleeps and stirs all around, the piano careening over the 2000s style dance cut of ‘Mean girls’, the techno gallop that bulks all across ‘365’ with its blubbery synths, and the soaring ballad of ‘So I’ is heartwrenching as the ‘It’s Okay To Cry’ interpolation careens around spare synth lines that pick up more sweeping texture when it glides all over to the end of the song. Despite those highlights, it still carries some unremarkable melodic sections, stale production choices, and a rather choppy momentum that pulls down the spark of the album, even if they’re not too distractingly agonizing given the consistent 2 to 3-minute runtime of these songs. Creating a haphazard flow where the ups and downs are apparent, for better and for worse.
If there is an aspect of the album that does hold strongly as its compositions, it’s the writing. On the surface, it does reflect the album title as Charli XCX carries a sneering attitude towards the success and fanbase that she garnered, especially with the latter on cuts like ‘Von dutch’ and ‘Mean Girls’ where she specifically confronts the absolute delirious “criticisms” towards the image of popstars like her that’s so easily thrown around given the easy access of the internet. Yet ‘BRAT’ does dig further into more of her internal introspection towards this side of success, one where she may find a bit of joy as she acknowledges her career where she reaps the acclaim she garnered from both the mainstream and indie sides of the music industry, but it doesn’t really give her much relief when all it brings is insecurity and frustrations on all fronts. Whether that be on ‘Talk talk’ where she tries to find a genuine connection with someone to keep her feel less anxious despite the barrier this person may have, ‘Rewind’ where she reflects upon her unsureness with her success and her body image as she wishes to find solace in going back to the past, ‘So I’ where she feels a pang of grief towards thinking of her memories with her late friend and mentor SOPHIE, ‘Sympathy is a knife’ where the emotional impulse that she can’t control leads her astray, and ‘Girl, so confusing’ where it does explore the dynamic of Charli XCX with another female popstar and the odd feeling that she has to be with them. Acknowledging just how different they can be, yet still shows some similarities for connections to be made, even if that becomes rather shaky along the way.
The arc eventually opens up to its deepest aspects with ‘I might say something stupid’ and ‘I think about it all the time’, the two lowkey cuts that offer the most introspection towards Charli XCX and what she is feeling in this current moment. The former explores the numbness that she has with being in the midpoint of the hyper-successful pop star and the indie niche hyperpop act, feeling like having to play the role of the party girl in her early 30s and feeling as if she doesn’t really feel like sticking around in the party anymore. An introspection that eventually crosses even further into the latter song, exploring the possibility of becoming a mother in the future especially now that she has found the love of her life. A possibility that she still has to think a bit more, especially when it does carry a responsibility that may require her to stop becoming the party girl that she has found herself living for a few decades now. A role in that she has found joys and sorrows along the way, one that she might have some struggle thinking about surrendering for perhaps a more enriching part of her life whenever that may be. For now, may as well be the bratty party girl that she is in the present, letting the club rave through her veins before she’s ready to decide on what she wants to pursue for her.
A refinement from her past record as she embraces the club-fitted electropop that always has been her bread and butter, ‘BRAT’ contains brimming chains of bouncy pop songs where the melodies and the production are sharper than ever, allowing Charli XCX’s effortless performances to just burst through with some of her exceptionally splashy set of bangers to date. Yet it’s not just bangers that she’s carrying either, as she also provides the most openly emotive lyrical flair that she has ever explored, allowing the sneering feelings to get shattered with the vulnerable touches that only provide more layers to Charli XCX as someone who has seen and experienced fame in the mainstream and alternative parts of it and exploring just how numbed she felt across the board. The bratty party girl might have to step out of the dance floor sometime soon, but for the time being, may as well keep dancing for a little while longer.
Favorite Tracks: ‘Club classics’, ‘Talk talk’, ‘Von dutch’, ‘Everything is romantic’, ‘So I’, ‘B2b’, ‘Mean girls’, ‘365’
Least Favorite Track: ‘360’