You just have to applaud Charli XCX.
‘Brat’ has really caught the zeitgeist of summer 2024.
And there is a lot to discuss regarding the cultural side of it, which appears to be the gift that keeps on giving.
But I’ll start with the music.
It’s really satisfying to see a pop album do so well which boasts a level of sophistication that a musician like me can appreciate. The album sounds fantastic, and it does not shy away from experimentation and fun. It’s uncompromising in that respect and garish in a way that’s really captivating, not least represented by the green cover.
This has been a feature of Charli for as long as I’ve been listening to her, starting with Pop 2. There’s this tension that she has between a desire to be an iconic pop star but also stay true to her underground routes, but I think she plays that to her strengths, especially on ‘Charli’ (2019) and now ‘Brat’.
Lyrically, the album as a whole has multiple dimensions to it. Much has been made of what ‘Brat’ defines, in Charli’s words it’s ‘the girl who stays up late, wakes up late, parties, is kind of messed up and carries cigarettes with a bic lighter’. However, you listen to the album as a whole, and there’s much more humanity at play, there is insecurity, vulnerability and guilt. ‘So I’ (possibly my favourite track) is a devastating track in honour of SOPHIE where Charli admits things so honest, that it hits hard. ‘Girl, so confusing’ is a playful track that explores overthinking and a real lack of confidence in her relationships with other women. This album is victorious in its integrity as well as its execution.
Now there is the cultural angle which everyone from newspapers to Jeremy Vine have hilariously been trying to make sense of. Marina Hyde and Richard Osmand covered this excellently on their brilliant ‘The Rest is Entertainment’ podcast. As a male, I don’t particularly think it’s anything I can offer insight on, other than what appears to be happening is that the ideology of ‘Brat summer’ is giving license for people to enjoy themselves and that it’s okay to be a bit messy. And unlike other cultural shifts previously such as the ladette movement of the 90s, this is all done on the terms of women themselves.
Then there is ‘Kamala is brat’. Who knew that this would extend into the American political contest a month ago?
An artist’s political endorsement is always arguably risky, but when it’s the choice between female productive rights, and a misogynistic, racist, kleptocratic wannabe dictator, why wouldn’t you lend your voice to the cause?
So I’m enjoying the album a lot. And I’m so pleased to see that in 2024, music of this nature is a driving force in the culture.
Last year’s highlighter colour was pink, this year was green. It’s anyone’s guess as to what it will be next year.
Ryan Mark Elliott Music 