Charli XCX|Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat

Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat by Charli Xcx

Released on 11/10/2024 by Atlantic Records
Main artists: Charli XCX
Genre: Dance

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In the four months between the release of Brat and brat and it's completely different but also still brat, Charli xcx experienced a truly stunning rise. By capturing the mood of 2024 with Brat's hedonistic, witty, and heartbreaking songs, she went from an artist who, in her own words, was "almost famous, but not quite" to one with career-high chart positions in the U.K. and the U.S., an entire season devoted to her, and memes so popular they were adopted by national political campaigns. With brat and it's completely different but also still brat, xcx uses her success to continue Brat's no-holds-barred conversation about fame, feminism, friendship, creativity, and love by imbuing every track with more meaning and more viewpoints.
These reworkings are more than just a bunch of features, though brat and it's completely different's guest list is impeccable. It's also studded with friends old and new: A.G. Cook joins xcx to revisit the heartfelt SOPHIE tribute "So I," paring it down to little more than fragments of wistful melody and haunting memories. Similarly, the years of friendship between xcx and Caroline Polachek can be felt on "Everything Is Romantic" as Polachek's silky vocals take the track's dreamy introspection to new heights. While nobody could have predicted a Charli xcx and Ariana Grande collaboration prior to Brat's release, the megastar's cameo feels perfectly natural on this version of "Sympathy Is a Knife," with the pair finding solidarity in dealing with impossible demands and beauty standards. Likewise, Lorde joins xcx in thwarting expectations of rivalry by working it out on the remix of "Girl, So Confusing," the Brat song she inspired. Arriving soon after Brat's first flush of praise, the prowling Billie Eilish team-up "Guess" feels like an outlier compared to the rest of brat and it's completely different's moodier tone, but it remains a standout and a vital part of the Brat story.
For some of these more soul-baring remixes, Charli xcx enlists indie rock stalwarts from the 2000s and 2010s, providing a counterpoint to the electronic sounds of that era that fueled the original album. Julian Casablancas helps transform "Mean Girls" into a world-weary synth pop exploration of doomed relationships that's of a piece with his latter-day work with the Strokes and the Voidz; while Bon Iver steers "I Think About It All the Time" toward more conventional-sounding balladry, its mood still cuts to the bone. At its best, brat and it's completely different's numerous and varied collaborators reflect Charli xcx's grasp of pop music's history as well as how easily she moves between different creative circles. Robyn, the godmother of the candid, inventive pop xcx excels at, reminds listeners that she's been "killing this sh*t since 1994" on the pumping remix of "360." In turn, when xcx brings an up-and-coming artist like Spanish rapper bb trickz onto an even tighter incarnation of "Club Classics," it feels like she's passing the torch to the next generation. Much more than a victory lap, brat and it's completely different but also still brat enriches the Brat listening experience and the understanding of Charli xcx's artistry. Fans know she's deserved this level of acclaim for years, but the creativity and generosity on display here is more proof that it's high time the mainstream finally caught up to her.

© Heather Phares /TiVo

Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat

Charli XCX

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360 featuring robyn & yung lean