2024 has undeniably been a year for the pop girls. Sabrina Carpenter released one of the biggest songs of the summer with “Espresso,” Chappell Roan continues to experience massive mainstream appeal, and, of course, Charli xcx’s explosive Brat summer.
Charli xcx has been a notable force in the pop scene for over a decade, initially gaining mainstream looks through sugary pop tracks like “I Love It” and her hook on Iggy Azalea’s number one hit “Fancy.” While successful in her own right, things began to change for Charli in 2016.
Alongside producers A.G. Cook and SOPHIE of the PC Music collective, Charli released her “Vroom Vroom” EP, a short tracklist containing bouncing, blown-out beats and repetitive, sticky choruses. Following the acclaimed EP, Charli would release a string of critically-adored electro-pop albums, all leading up to the cumulation of a career: 2024’s “BRAT.”
Before its June release, “BRAT” was already a pop spectacle. Charli started a secret Instagram account to interact directly with the fans and build hype, performed the most attended boiler room show in history, and released the polarizing cover – blurry text stating just “brat” placed upon a shade of green described by The New York Times as “Gumby with jaundice” or “a Bottega Veneta handbag, dipped in Nickelodeon slime.”
“BRAT” was released to acclaim from all corners of popular music, serving as the highest selling album of Charli’s career, and catching the attention not only of TikTok and the public, but democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign staff.
With popular X account Kamala HQ adopting the “Brat” branding in their header to Charli herself tweeting “kamala IS brat” to over 55 million views, fan-cams of Harris speaking and dancing began popping up, increasing the internet discussion around both parties. In addition to the public attention, songs from the album like “360” and “Apple” helped Charli reach her highest solo charting positions on the Billboard Hot 100.
kamala IS brat
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024
While all of the attention was beneficial for Charli’s brand, none of it could have happened if the album itself was not up to snuff, but “BRAT” serves as an opus for Charli, being only 41 minutes with 15 exciting, danceable tracks that showcase her best qualities as a musician – the ability to create palpable fun.
Everything about this album and its rollout feels like FOMO. When you hear the production for “B2b” and “365,” how do you not wish you were dancing to the tracks with Charli? When you watch the boiler room set, how do you not want to be in that dense, sweaty gaggle of scantily clad clubbers raving to the most exciting club music you have heard in years?
Other highlights include the trunk-knocking “Von Dutch,” the introspective and existential “i think about it all the time” and the best chorus of the year on “Sympathy is a knife.” The club-nature of the tracks on “BRAT” are primed for remixes, offering career-highlight performances from Lorde and Billie Eilish on the “Girl, so confusing” and “Guess” remixes respectively.
Following “BRAT,” Charli xcx has amassed over 40 million monthly listeners on Spotify and become one of the most in-demand voices in modern pop culture, the primary purpose being that the album is amazing. In a time where personality in pop is beginning to matter more than ever, Charli xcx is in her prime and not showing signs of slowing down.
