Brat (album)
Brat | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 7 June 2024 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 41:23 | |||
Label | Atlantic[4] | |||
Producer | ||||
Charli XCX chronology | ||||
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Singles from Brat | ||||
Brat is the sixth studio album by English singer Charli XCX. It was released on 7 June 2024.[5][6] The album was preceded by the release of two singles, "Von Dutch", released on 29 February 2024, and "360", released on 10 May 2024.
Background and recording
The album is set to be a club record[7][8] evoking and channeling the illegal London rave scene where Charli XCX started performing "when [she] was 14 or 15".[9] This is her sixth studio album and first after renewing her contract with Atlantic Records in early 2023.[10][11] It was announced on 28 February 2024, a day before the release of the lead single "Von Dutch", which was released on 29 February.[12][13]
According to Charli XCX, Brat is her "most aggressive and confrontational record", but also her most vulnerable.[14] On 22 February, during her Boiler Room warehouse set, she debuted snippets of tracks identified as "Spring Breakers" and "365".[15] She was joined on the stage by Addison Rae and Julia Fox;[16] a "Von Dutch" remix with Rae and A. G. Cook was released on 22 March.[17] On 6 March, she premiered "So I" at the Billboard Women in Music event.[18] "Club Classics" and "B2B" were released on 3 April as a two-pack promotional singles.
After teasing the song for a few days, on 29 April, Charli announced the release of the next single, "360". It was released on 10 May alongside its music video, which was teased earlier that day, and was described by her as "[her] best music video ever". The music video features multiple "it girls", including such as Chloë Sevigny, Julia Fox, Rachel Sennott, Alex Consani, Emma Chamberlain, Chloe Cherry, Richie Shazam, and more. The remix for "360" was released on May 31 and includes Robyn and Yung Lean.[19]
Composition
As Charli XCX told Billboard's Katie Bain, Brat is produced from a tight collection of sounds to create "this unique minimalism that is very loud and bold".[9] The Face's Shaad D'Souza compared the album's sound to '00s-era Ministry of Sound compilations The Annual and Rihanna's 2010 album Loud, describing the lyrics as "shady and bratty, but tender and heartbreaking".[14]
Charli XCX has confirmed that one track from the album, "Girl, So Confusing," explores her contentious relationship with a fellow female artist. "Sympathy is a Knife" also alludes to this.
Another track, partially inspired by Red Scare co-host Dasha Nekrasova and actress and singer Julia Fox, focuses on society's "fascination with mean girls".[14]
"So I" is "a knotty exploration of her grief about [the death of] Sophie".[20][21][22]
Artwork
Brat's cover artwork, a low resolution lime green square with the title disproportionately imposed on it, was met with criticism. In a cover story interview for Vogue Singapore, she told Chandreyee Ray that the criticism led her to question why fans feel "ownership over female artists" so much so that they demand their photograph be on all of their work; she had previously dubbed it "mysoginistic [sic] and boring" on Twitter. She further explained the album cover and particularly the colour choice, deeming green heavily oversaturated in the media and fashion "as of late": "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." People's Sadie Bell linked the album cover with the nature of the album, which Charli XCX dubbed "confrontational".[23][24]
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 8.2/10[25] |
Metacritic | 92/100[26] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
DIY | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Line of Best Fit | 9/10[2] |
Paste | 9/10[27] |
Riff Magazine | 9/10[28] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Slant Magazine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Independent | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Brat received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 92 out of 100 from 11 critic scores.[26] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.2 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[25] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as "bratty and brash" but "frequently vulnerable".[29] Brittany Spanos of Rolling Stone wrote that Brat "seesaws between extremes... a hyperpop rollercoaster of post-Saturn return, early-thirties anxieties, and It-girl bravado".[1]
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."[27]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "360" | 2:13 | ||
2. | "Club Classics" |
|
| 2:33 |
3. | "Sympathy Is a Knife" |
|
| 2:31 |
4. | "I Might Say Something Stupid" |
| Gesaffelstein | 1:49 |
5. | "Talk Talk" |
| 2:41 | |
6. | "Von Dutch" |
| Keane | 2:44 |
7. | "Everything Is Romantic" |
|
| 3:23 |
8. | "Rewind" |
|
| 2:48 |
9. | "So I" |
|
| 3:31 |
10. | "Girl, So Confusing" |
| Cook | 2:54 |
11. | "Apple" |
|
| 2:31 |
12. | "B2B" |
|
| 2:58 |
13. | "Mean Girls" |
|
| 3:09 |
14. | "I Think About It All the Time" |
|
| 2:15 |
15. | "365" |
|
| 3:23 |
Total length: | 41:23 |
Notes
- ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
References
- ^ a b c Spanos, Brittany (3 June 2024). "Review: With Brat Charli XCX Dances on the Edge". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Charli XCX: Brat Review – vulnerable pop | Pop". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Charli XCX – Brat". DIY. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Gonzalez, Alex (28 May 2024). "Charli XCX Teared Up Over A Boy's Ideal Of A Party On 'Recess Therapy'". UPROXX. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
- ^ Richards, Will (28 February 2024). "Charli XCX confirms details of new album 'Brat'". Rolling Stone UK. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Summer Academe. University of Manitoba Libraries. doi:10.5203/sa. Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (28 February 2024). "Charli XCX Reveals New Album 'Brat,' a 'Club Record,' Will Arrive This Summer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Sunkel, Cameron (26 February 2024). ""I Came From the Clubs": Charli XCX's Upcoming Album Is Her Dance Music Magnum Opus". EDM.com - The Latest Electronic Dance Music News, Reviews & Artists. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ a b Bain, Katie (1 March 2024). "How Charli XCX Returned To Her Rave Roots For 'Loud and Bold' New Album". Billboard. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
- ^ Geraghty, Hollie (23 February 2023). "Charli XCX reveals she's signed a new record contract". Rolling Stone UK. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Skinner, Tom (22 February 2023). "Charli XCX reveals details of new record contract". NME. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Gil (28 February 2024). "Charli XCX Teases Upcoming Sixth Studio Album, Brat". Billboard. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ "Charli XCX announces new album Brat". The FADER. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ a b c D'Souza, Shaad (19 February 2024). "Charli XCX knows you're obsessed with her". The Face. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
- ^ Gaca, Anna (1 March 2024). "Charli XCX: "Von Dutch"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 27 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- ^ Carter, Ashleigh (23 March 2024). "Addison Rae Ad-Libbed Her Iconic Scream On Charli XCX's "Von Dutch" Remix". Teen Vogue. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ Taylor, Sam (22 March 2024). "Charli XCX Has Shared 'The Von Dutch Remix with Addison Rae & A. G. Cook'". Dork. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2024.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (7 March 2024). "Charli XCX Debuts Sophie Tribute Song "So I" at Billboard Women In Music: Watch". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Monroe, Jazz (31 May 2024). "Charli XCX Enlists Robyn and Yung Lean for New "360" Remix". Pitchfork. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
- ^ Dazed (7 March 2024). "Charli XCX shares SOPHIE tribute song, 'So I'". Dazed. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Garcia, Thania (8 March 2024). "Charli XCX Debuts Song Dedicated to Late Producer Sophie, Karol G Is Woman of the Year and More From Billboard's Women in Music Awards". Variety. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Charli XCX knows you're obsessed with her". The Face. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
- ^ Ray, Chandreyee (1 April 2024). ""I wouldn't have a career without the LGBTQ+ community": Charli XCX on pop culture, heritage and using her voice for good". Vogue Singapore. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ Bell, Sadie (2 April 2024). "Charli XCX Responds to Criticism of Her Brat Album Artwork: 'I'm Not Doing Things to Be Nice'". People. Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ a b "Brat by Charli XCX reviews | Any Decent Music". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Brat by Charli XCX Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Charli XCX Triumphs Through Pop Catharsis on Brat". Paste. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ "Album Review: Charli XCX honors club culture and Sophie on Brat". Riff Magazine. 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ a b Cinquemani, Sal (3 June 2024). "Charli XCX Brat Review: Existential Crisis on the Dance Floor". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ Snapes, Laura (6 June 2024). "Brat review – insecurity-obliterating anthems by pop's most human superstar". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
- ^ Brown, Helen (6 June 2024). "BRAT review: Dance-pop star slips a little vulnerability into her clever, anarchic beats". The Independent. Retrieved 6 June 2024.