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1, 2, 3
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

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Hi everyone, BRATthony Greeentano
here,

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the internet's busiest music nerd.
And it's time for a review

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of this new record "Brat" from Charli xcx.

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Here we have the 6th official full-length
studio album from pop-singer and

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songwriter Ms Charli xcx.

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One of my most anticipated albums of
the year, why?

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Well, over the past decade in my eyes,
Charli has grown into one of the most

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creative, unique, and pioneering forces
in current day pop music.

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And her evolution has been interesting
to watch, to say the least.

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I'm not a fan of her early work, 
truth be told, but

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today it serves as an interesting
reference point.

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Uh, for what she is doing on this
record.

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The "True Romance" and "Sucker" eras of 
her career, uh, did bring some of

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her biggest hits and features to date,
that is true,

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but sonically, much of the music she was
dropping around this time wasn't...

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very daring or even deep.

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At best, you could say it was catchy
and of-the-time.

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Around the mid-2010s, though,
is when Charli's music

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really began to push boundaries.

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Crossing over creatively with writers and
producers from the

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up-and-coming PC music label.

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I'm talking people like Danny L Harle
and EASYFUN, A.G Cook,

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and the late SOPHIE,

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who at the time were gaining
quite the reputation for

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revitalizing a lot of Y2k-era pop
aesthetics but with a

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hyper-futuristic, jittery sound.

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And our first taste of this new direction
came in the form of

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Charli xcx's "Vroom Vroom" EP in 2016.

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Which some critics just did not know what
to make of at the time,

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and while it was my EP of the year
that year,

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I could still see how this would have 
turned a lot of people off if they

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came into Charli's music having certain
expectations,

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given that she was a pop artist.

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Because "Vroom Vroom" in tone, is,
at points, kind of dark, and visceral

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and groovy in a weird way.

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Campy, too, with some tracks varying so
wildly from part to part that,

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uh, you could almost take what she was
doing here as, like, a joke or novelty.

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However, the tracks on this EP are
deadly serious.

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And were also a new, bold step for 
pop music as well as in a hot moment,

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for both Charli and PC Music creatively.

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Because at this point, I think Charli became
the perfect conduit for what they were

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trying to channel this detailed and 
retro-futuristic, reconstruction

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of 2000s pop music, that blur the lines
between the satirical,

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but also reverent.

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Meanwhile, Charli's creative chemistry
with A.G and SOPHIE

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allowed her, I think, to experiment more
and mature as a songwriter.

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Allowing her the freedom to drop
zany bangers as well as

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sleek-powerful anthems.

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Songs with strange structures, or very 
unlikely features,

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A lot of these ideas and concepts were
more or less road-tested on

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the mixtape she dropped back in 2017,

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and then in my eyes, it was all
fully realized on her excellent 2019

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"Charli" record.

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Now, over the years, as Charli has
developed this new sound,

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her writing has offered more depth,
has become more personal and intimate,

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especially on her pandemic album,
"How I'm Feeling Now".

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But I think Charli's writing has grown
more conceptual, too.

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With her presentation as this posh,
English party girl on many of her songs

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has more or less become this exaggerated
character she plays into.

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However, in a way, Charli's instantly
recognizable sound and unique place

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in the pop landscape, uh, became both a 
blessing and a curse at the dawn of the 2020s.

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Because her style had gone from
challenging to kind of definable

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with this newly-minted "hyperpop"
term that was being thrown onto everybody

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who sounded even vaguely like her or
100gecs.

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And she quickly went on to strip away
many of the "hyper" characteristics

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of her music on her next album, "Crash",
working with a totally new team of producers

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And while I can't deny the record does
feature some respectable hits,

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I have to ask: At what cost?

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Because "Crash" did very measurably have
quite a bit less character than

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anything that Charli had dropped
in recent years at the time

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Which brings us to today. Charli's 
latest album cycle here, "BRAT".

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Where I think she's genuinely reconnecting
with the trajectory that has brought her

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to this point and made her a special artist
to begin with.

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Even EASYFUN and A.G Cook are back
in the mix on this production side,

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on a whole lot of tracks, uh, numerous
others too.

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There are even references to A.G Cook
on some of the lyrics to this record

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as quite a bit of meta-commentary
is going on as well.

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You can really tell that Charli is fully
embracing the impact she's had on pop music

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in recent years, and really using it as
more of a strength than a weakness

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that she can be pigeon holed into.

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And I think that's something she can
do confidently because

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her and A.G Cook aren't just merely
trying to, y'know,

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revive some kind of hyperpop trend on
this LP.

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I mean, for sure, Charli's goal and focus
is to give us this autotuned, bold,

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and hard-hitting homage to 2000s era 
pop music,

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but this time around we have a refreshing
focus on dance-pop, on EDM from that era,

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on electropop from that era, club bangers
generally.

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With a pretty aggressive edge, making this
LP very worthy of the title "BRAT".

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Because this record is meant to be
danced to.

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And, at points, cry to.

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As I think Charli's writing is more mature
and thoughtful than it's ever been.

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For one, her party girl persona takes
a bit of a dark turn,

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or at least gets deflated a bit

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as she reveals that it's kind of a
mask,

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and that she doesn't always feel
like she's worthy of being there at the party

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or that her and the party are a bit
at odds.

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Meanwhile, "i think about it all the time"
sees Charli musing about whether or not

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she can continue her career in the way
she currently is,

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while also becoming a mother, which she
very clearly has interest in at some point.

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Skipping ahead here, it's also kind of
crazy how narratively, this contrasts so hard

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with her going back full into party mode
on the closing track, "365".

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Of course, there are notes of nostalgia
on this album, too, that is very much

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in line with tracks like "1999", most
notably on "Rewind",

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but this song specifically is more about
Charli missing the older aspects

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of her life before the fame.

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Between sticky choruses on this track,
she delivers her verses in this way that

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kinda comes off like, conflicted internal
monologue, or like

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she's musically journaling.

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There are lots of tracks on this thing too
that deal in love.

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But these songs narratively feel vastly
different from previous singles like

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"Good Ones", for example.

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Tracks where historically, Charli can be
seen running away from love

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or being a bit self-effacing and talking 
about how she's fucking it all up.

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Instead, on songs such as the really
infectious

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<i>singing</i> "Talk talk to me!"

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as, uh, as well <i>laughs</i>
as the very cinematic

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<i>singing</i> "Everything is romantic"

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Yeah, Charli can be seen accepting
love and doing quite a few shoutouts

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to her fiancé George.

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But yes, between this and numerous nods
to wanting to have maybe a more normal

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life at some point, Charli really presents
some interesting internal conflicts

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throughout this album, which we also
hear as well on tracks where she is

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singing about things like friendship
and sharing the limelight with other women.

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I mean, historically Charli is very
pro-woman,

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especially when it comes to supporting
other artists with her music

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through features, through attention she
can throw their way with her creativity

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I mean, even look at the lyrics in the
music video to one of the big singles

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from this record, "360".

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That is the Charli that most fans
know and love.

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By that same token, there are
numerous songs on this record

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where she is being very unfiltered
and just admitting

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how, just, insecure and plagued with
fear she is sometimes.

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There's "Sympathy is a knife" where she
talks about, just, being so

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self-conscious around this other woman
that she wishes for

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a gun to shoot herself with.

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Which is context that some fans might
even miss if they're mostly wrapped up

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in the roaring bass and fantastic string
hits going on the dance beat.

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There's also "GIrl, so confusing" where
Charli sings about the difficulties

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of letting people in, and navigating
the music industry among other

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people who she may have a difficult
time connecting with,

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knowing how to trust.

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The song seems to be very specifically
about a single person who

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maybe she's been likened to by fans
but she doesn't fully see it.

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However, there's still a desire there
on some level to make the friendship

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or the connection work.

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Then the song "Von dutch" sees Charli
getting pretty aggressive and

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combative lyrically.

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Specifically in regards to someone who
doesn't seem to like her,

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maybe even is talking behind her back.

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And her response to that is, essentially,
this big anthemic "Fuck you" here.

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Where she's delivering some biting lyrics
about how this person may actually be

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nothing if it weren't for some 
"little dance" they're doing.

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So, yeah, there are these intense
emotional peaks all over the album

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but the biggest bombshell of all of them
has to be the song, "So I".

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Which is very obviously a tribute to the 
late great producer and songwriter SOHPIE

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who actually collaborated with Charli
quite a few times,

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so consistently, in fact, from an outside
perspective, I don't think any fan of either

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Charli or SOPHIE would have presumed
anything of them and their connection.

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Other than something along the lines of,
"Hey, they're collaborators, they have

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big respect for each other, they
love each other,

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they're probably friends,

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Charli, SOHPIE, SOPHIE, Charli,
name a more iconic duo-"

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But what Charli says on this track here
actually tells a very different story

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and is quite revealing in a way that
is actually pretty admirable.

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Because the angle of the song is,
yes, very sad, obviously,

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but it doesn't necessarily paint Charli 
in the best light.

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And, again, it's painfully sad and
has made me reflect on the tone

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that tributes in art or whatever
other medium often take.

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They usually end up being less about
the tributed person

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and more about the tributer's love and 
adoration.

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"Look how great I think this person
is, who we all think is great."

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And Charli's song here does contain
quite a bit of praise for SOHPIE

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that's true, don't get me wrong.

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But a lot of the track is actually an
admittance on Charli's part, with her

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pretty much saying, "I was a shitty
friend."

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"I kinda pushed this person away. I wish
I didn't."

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"And now, I am plagued with an
insurmountable amount of regret."

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Which does make it a really tough listen
even if I think instrumentally and

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melodically it is one of the strongest
showings here.

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Narratively and emotionally there are
quite a few cuts that I think are

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a bit lighter in tone, but they still
contribute a great amount of quality to

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the record and are just generally
fun and entertaining to listen to.

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There's "Club classics", which I thought
was hands down an incredible single to

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the album. Also, "B2b", which is just some
very straightforward, cut and dry,

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throwback, quality dance pop with a pretty
clear hot and cold, back and forth

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love on the rocks type narrative

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There's also "Apple", which is some
very groovy throwbacks synthpop too.

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All about a situation and dynamic that
Charli likens to a rotten apple,

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it's a situation she describes having to
escape from by car or by plane,

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There's "Mean girls", which is a
character portrait about exactly that,

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with a soaring and anthemic chorus 
plus a killer piano break

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that the entire track builds off of
from there.

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And then at the very end there's 
"365", which is this

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version of the song "360" that kicks
the record off, this

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mirrored, remix-as-reprise big finish.

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With some acid bass mixed in there
for good measure.

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So, I love the way the record finishes.
Love the way it kicks off,

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and the flow from moment to moment 
generally is great.

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It's to the point where certain tracks
in the leadup to the record

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that I thought were just kind of okay
sound better being reinforced

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by the vibes and the aesthetics of the
surrounding songs on the album.

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Because as I've heard the entire
thing now many times over,

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I don't think there's a skip on it.

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The production generally goes hard
as hell, it is vibrant, it is colorful,

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it is very visceral at times, aggressive,
but,

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I can see some people kinda scratching
their heads at the fact that it doesn't

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come across quite as futuristic as some
of those "hyperpop" cult classics

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in recent years.

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But more importantly what I think
the production does on

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this album is that it serves the songs.

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It's sweet when it needs to be,
it's dynamic when it needs to be,

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it's lowkey or explosive when it needs
to be,

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and there is still a very clear and
consistent aesthetic focused on

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the entire album that centers around
a certain era of pop and dance music.

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So, I'm not necessarily disappointed
with this record not being as

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ahead of the curve as a project like
"Charli", for example.

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99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Especially considering that Charli xcx
copycats these days are abound.

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The impact that people like her and A.G
and SOPHIE have had on the modern era

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of pop music, is not going anywhere
anytime soon.

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And it's with that I say I loved
"BRAT", killer album,

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and I think that this record proves that 
Charli truly is a generational pop artist.

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Which is why I'm feeling a strong 9,
to a 10 on this LP.

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Tran-

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sition. Have you given this album a 
listen? Did you love it? Did you hate it?

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What would you rate it? 
"You're the best, you're the best",

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What should I review next? 
Hit the like if you'd like,

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please subscribe, please don't cry, 
hit the bell as well.

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Over here next to my head is another video
you can check out,

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hit that up or the link to subscribe 
to the channel.

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Anthony Fantano, Charli xcx. Forever.