Whether it has been the queer pop of Chappell Roan or the songwriting knack caught in Sabrina Carpenter, it really has been a promising summer for pop. But one record is above the rest, and that is BRAT, from Charli XCX.
BRAT dropped on June 7th, and it’s already this year’s best-rated album according to Metacritic. The indie sleaze aesthetic has captured the fevered imaginations of Generation Z this year, so the timing couldn’t be much better. Its stark album cover quickly turned into an online shorthand for chic.
While BRAT is ostensibly a collection of hyperpop, EDM, and club music, it’s far deeper than that, really allowing the listener into a part of Charli XCX we seldom see. Of course, this doesn’t mean her other work isn’t deep — her 2020 album How I’m Feeling Now captured the frustrations of the COVID-19 lockdown in a pop context. And let’s be real: her 2014 hit “Boom Clap” remains a Tumblr-era favorite.
What differentiates BRAT is its coherence: all the tracks on this album are solid, even when style and tone vary greatly. This album serves almost as an outlet through which Charli explores the duality of her identity: the carefree, bratty club kid versus a second-guesser.
Take “Mean Girls,” an anthem for the modern 20-something who idolizes Lana Del Rey and wakes up still in last night’s makeup. Or “Von Dutch,” where Charli confidently claps back at critics with lines like, “It’s okay to just admit that you’re jealous of me” and “It’s so obvious I’m your number one.” This is the Charli XCX we’re used to-bold, unbothered.
But she also flips the script. On “I Might Say Something Stupid,” Charli overthinks her behavior at a party-a feeling anyone who’s ever felt out of place can relate to. Confidence and self-doubt are often allotted a shared space on the album.
The record skews throughout, from the high-energy opener and closer, “360” and “365,” respectively, through to the pop hooks of “Talk Talk” and “B2B.” This also ties back to a broader commentary on modern gender roles. Charli portrays girlhood as fearless and insecure, confident yet vulnerable.
Of course, not every experience is universal. For example, feeling awkward about calling the paparazzi is definitely not something the common folk can relate to, but her raw lyrics make up for any disconnect.
One of the more emotional cuts off the album features “So I,” where Charli XCX reminisces on her friendship with late close collaborator SOPHIE, who died in 2021. She conveys the hurt and guilt with such lines as “Your star burns so bright / Now I really wish I stayed” and “Guilty feelings keep me fractured.”
The song “I Think About It All the Time” also drew attention with its candor about Charli’s future, specifically that of motherhood. In questioning her career and the prospect of having kids, it feels like a call to a close friend. Lines like, “Should I stop my birth control? Cause my career feels so small in the existential theme of it all,” offer a rare glimpse into her personal life.
But Charli XCX concludes the album in style with the final track “365,” an invitation to call up your friends and get on the dance floor.
BRAT is Charli’s best work yet. Although it has been out for less than two weeks, it has already left its stamp on pop culture. I think it’s going to be a decade-defining album, pushing other artists to try gutsier topics.
So go ahead, slip on those Y2K shades and slip into your favorite outfit in lime green, and let the BRAT era of you shine.
Rating: 10/10.
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