They may not build a statue, but a grave adorned with graffiti will serve just as well. Charli XCX has blown a truthful hole in the cultural conquest made over the last decade. We are undignified and relentless people. There is no hope and yet we thrive. A weakness of the heart yet a strength of the mind. Tread the waters of your mind with the electropop shockwave, brat, an album which navigates the context and cliche of the genre well. Everyone is suffering a regret fuelled by existential questioning. There is no getting away from it at this point. It separates the wheat from the chaff, the rich from the poor. The former are scum, the latter are struggling. Eventually, a piece like brat serves a clear line of reason.
Pick a lane, stick to it and move along. We cannot bounce between familial hopes and coked-out party hours as easily as we hoped. Life is not fair. Nor is Charli XCX, and a brutal swing of quality comes through the bat of brat. Resentful yet pulpy fun filters through on opening double bill 360 and Club Classics, the latter of which is influenced thoroughly by gifted DJ sets. Who has the energy to dance all night anymore? Charli XCX, that is who. Forty minutes of rough, ready electronica. A real shock to the system with the same effect as caffeine or stronger substances, which are hinted at throughout. brat does feature the usual run of pop-oriented struggles. Relationship woes and wonderful trips down memory lane with all the hindsight in the world are featured. But Charli XCX has elevated them with repetitive and energetic productions.
Sympathy is a Knife comes close to unravelling yet careers on, elevated by the subversion of those popularity tropes on I Might Say Something Stupid. It is the sharpest song on the album. A knowing prod at those who listen to music solely to find solid soundbites for their Instagram stories. Main character syndromes and the vacuous rush have left us disenfranchised. This is where the disconnect began. Talk Talk is a keen blur of those same snippets, snide swipes at what makes the genre so knowable and relatable. Constant pops at the always online rush with Von Dutch makes for smug listening. This is only a good thing. You were in the right after all. People having their fun and swooning their way through life, head in the clouds, need tackling down to reality.
How primitive we can be. Everything is Romantic gets to the bottom of this with a staggering, stylish flair. We loathe ourselves because of uncertainty. A lack of clarity on what we should do, on how we are meant to survive in a world of lacklustre rewards, booms through brat. Charli XCX has no solutions but has a solid soundtrack of intense, club-ready anthems. Girl, so confusing lingers as a remarkable achievement in the latter stages of the album. Stuck in the revolving door of parties, anxiety and moments of inspiration, breaking out becomes harder with every passing day. Plant your feet in the ground and feel the surge of energy which comes through brat. Frankly incredible stuff where Charli XCX lights the fuse of sorting your life out for good – without the flam and safety of other pop artists.
Reject those falsehoods who are there to peddle merch and mould themselves into an image of relatable fashion. brat has no time for notions of relatability and becomes a genuine representation. It just so happens being honest with your listeners is a seismic way forward, a shift to how they truly feel. At least one artist this year is genuine with their audience. Charli XCX is not dressing the world up. She is hard at work and crashing through the hardships with Apple and B2B. Yet even with those horrors circling our minds we make time for the wonders of life, as Mean Girls displays. Life is a mixed bag. brat is a consistent screech of quality. It will give those early morning grumblings some meaning, some sprinkling of desire.
