Charli XCX - BRAT (2024)
It seems counterintuitive that Charli XCX's self-described back-to-basics album, a return to the sound of club anthems from her youth, also happens to be her most intimate and diaristic. When I think of the club, I think of dark rooms with bodies pressed up against each other under neon strobes, sweat dripping from the speakers as they blast a soundtrack of dirty bass under repetitive, minimal vocals or substance-less refrains so generic to seem relatable to everyone that nobody can really relate to them at all. Carefree euphoria; catharsis through mindless movement. I wouldn't expect to hear instead a stream of consciousness of a wallflower's self-doubts, awkwardly jumbled among tectonic beats that shift from idea to idea faster than the intrusive thoughts they’re set against.
But that's what we get with BRAT, Charli's return to future-pop electronics after her summer fling with the top 40 on 2022's CRASH, resulting in one of the most intriguingly paradoxical albums conceived by a pop diva in recent memory. The initial exclusion of deluxe edition bonus tracks "Hello goodbye", "Guess" and "Spring breakers", the most straightforward and simple-minded bangers of the entire set, just goes to show that the split dichotomy between sound and meaning was entirely intentional.
The lyrical content across the base album can sometimes come across as cringe for most of us nobodies since it alludes to somewhat vain comparisons between Charli's perceived level of her own stardom with industry giants such as presumed rivals Taylor Swift and Lorde, but the unfiltered honesty through which she presents exactly what's on her mind makes it excusable and reminds us that we've all got our own deep-seated insecurities, no matter how much privilege and success we may enjoy alongside them. More interesting than the debate over who's referenced by which refrain, though, is the innovative production that propels them all. Rocketing between grimy bass thumps, searing EDM synth stabs, processed symphonic strings, staccato piano motives, and everything else including the kitchen sink, the sequencing of the record at times feels off just because it's such a struggle to keep up with its restless imagination.
But that also works in BRAT's favor: the attention deficit mirrors the pace of the thoughts racing through Charli's mind as she processes the events of her past few years, including the death of her friend and collaborative partner SOPHIE, societal pressures placed upon her as a woman of childbearing age, and her brief stint with minor stardom when CRASH charted in the UK. It's a brilliant pairing of style and substance that subverts the club music genre just as much as it celebrates it, showing that Charli is still at the top of her game when it comes to redefining pop.
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