NEW SINGLE RELEASE – Milly Upton ‘Wanna Get Out’
27 December 2023
From the dawn of her career to 2015, Charli XCX had firmly established herself within the music scene. She became something of a cheat code for features, writing infectious hooks for tracks like “I Love It,” “Fancy,” and “Boom Clap,” which were some of the most popular songs of the early to mid-2010s. However, as catchy as these songs were, they didn’t really make Charli stand out in her own lane
Then, in early 2016, Pandora’s box was opened. In collaboration with the legendary PC Music producer Sophie (who sadly passed away in 2021), Charli released “Vroom Vroom,” and pop music hasn’t been the same since. Critics initially struggled with the track and found little positive to say, but it kickstarted what we now know as hyper-pop. Catchy yet chaotic, accessible yet abrasive, hyper-pop has come far in terms of experimentalism, and Charli has always been there to support and pioneer alongside the artists she paved the way for.
“Vroom Vroom” planted the seed for what was to come. “Number 1 Angel” and “Pop 2” were released in 2017 to positive reception. Then, her self-titled album released in 2019 received phenomenal reception, even landing at the top of The Needle Drop’s best albums of 2019 list, over Tyler, The Creator’s much-loved “Igor.” Frequent collaborations with PC Music’s roster of producers (A.G. Cook, Easylife, Sophie) brought life to more daring projects. The most daring of these was 2020’s “How I’m Feeling Now,” an, to put it briefly, batshit experience. It sounds like having your head smashed into the most beautiful computer ever made and just being okay with it. Recorded within a month at the beginning of the pandemic, it felt like the first album released during that heinous time that actually felt of its time. It has stood the test of time and hasn’t aged badly at all. But when you open a project with a song like “Pink Diamond,” which could blend into a Death Grips album, it’s always one that shocks the system upon return.
In 2022, Charli returned with “Crash,” which unfortunately marked a step backward from the innovative direction she had been progressing towards. Taking a more mainstream approach to pop again felt odd, considering the experimental work of the past six years. Thankfully, she’s now back on the path that she belongs on. “Brat” is a no-fucks-given album that belongs in nightclubs for years to come, yet it also has its human side.
For the majority of the tracklist, these are songs meant to make you go nuts and just forget about life. From the singles “Von Dutch,” “B2B,” and “Club Classics,” it was clear we were going to be sweating throughout this album. However, “360” was released and left me conflicted. Its “It girl” messaging and appreciation is something to admire, but its comparatively boring production doesn’t set the tone for what’s to come. “Club Classics,” on the other hand, sets the tone perfectly, with Charli shouting out some of her musical idols and collaborators over a thumping Jersey clubinspired dance beat that morphs into wonky electronic sounds during the verses.
“Sympathy is a Knife” follows and reveals that behind this brash and unapologetic persona is a struggle with the pressure of public opinion. Even against her partner’s reassurance, she sings, “One voice tells me that they laugh, / George says I’m just paranoid, / Says he just don’t see it, he’s so naive.” At one point, she even mentions wanting to buy a gun and shoot herself. Lyrically, I don’t think the album gets this dark again, but sonically, it’s one of the most joyous-sounding songs and more pop-influenced than anything else on the album.
“I Might Say Something Stupid” plays out like an anxiety-ridden interlude, with legendary producer Gesaffelstein providing a beautifully ambient soundscape that Charli bares her soul on. It evokes the feeling of pre-show nerves, dulled away with drink. But “Talk Talk” is a return to the party. Lyrically, it is fairly naff, but the music is euphoric and whimsical, successfully getting you back to a rising BPM.
When it comes to “Von Dutch,” I really don’t know what to say that hasn’t been said. It might be one of the best songs to come out this year, if not the best. The electroclash beat provided by Easylife reminds me of Mason’s “Exceeder,” which is a hall-of-fame dance track. Charli’s exuberant confidence stands out in this song, showing that she doesn’t care what you think because she knows what and who she is within this world. Opening the track with the lyric, “It’s okay to just admit that you’re jealous of me,” is an insane way to start a song, and she continues this satire of celebrity obnoxiousness with such ruthlessness and conviction that you begin to blur the lines between what she believes and what she doesn’t.
“Everything is Romantic” opens in operatic fashion with a beautiful string section, then suddenly drops in drums that would fit into a drill track. The chorus then smashes the tempo into an oldschool techno rave vibe. Her delivery of the chorus stood out as one of the most amusing moments of the album, gorgeously harmonising “Everything is” and then, like whiplash, delivering the word “Romantic” in such a deadpan way that you could imagine they brought in Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw for a brief recording session. The layering of the vocals at the end of the track is so dizzying that it feels like everything is getting blurred around you.
“Rewind” takes Charli back to challenging the insecurities she feels in her growing era of fame and celebrity, making it another highlight of the tracklist. Embracing the aura of proper old-school UK garage, which she also explored on her previous album “Crash,” Charli keeps the garage elements while incorporating eclectic electronic sounds. She enhances the song’s feeling with solid autotune, giving the tune a more authentic feel that complements the messages and themes she sings about.
“So I” marks an emotional peak on the album with a stunning tribute to the late Sophie, who was alongside Charli when she opened Pandora’s box and encouraged her to take the leap that would set her on the trajectory she was always meant to be on. Who knows where Charli would be if she had never met Sophie? This tribute is sure to make some die-hard fans tear up.
Internet speculation about the titular girl on “Girl, So Confusing” has already begun, with the number one target being fellow pop superstar Lorde, who has shared her admiration for “Brat” amid rumors of beef between the two artists. Charli has reciprocated the admiration for her musical peer. The song could be hypothetical, continuing the narrative presented by “Von Dutch” on celebrity and influencer culture. However, the media loves a narrative, so only the artists truly know.
The backend of “Brat” has Charli conflicted about what her future holds. While “B2B” and “Mean Girl” carry the carefree, youthful energy she radiates throughout her career, the penultimate song, “I Think About It All the Time,” has Charli reflecting on her future and considering starting a family with her partner, George Daniels. She retells a time when she met a friend in Stockholm who had started a family, which profoundly affected her, causing her to seriously consider whether now is the right time to start a family of her own or if it’s too soon and would make her lose her freedom. This is self-reflection in the most mature way I’ve heard from her.
The final track, “365,” carries on sonically from the opener but evolves into the club banger that I wished “360” would have been. In a nutshell, “Brat” feels like an embodiment of everything Charli yearns for on the track “Anthems” from her COVID masterpiece “How I’m Feeling Now.” It’s a brash and frenzied project that finally shows Charli embracing and shifting the culture COVID took away from us all. It’s utter brilliance that shows a fearlessness from an artist who has finally put herself at the center of the scene she pioneered years ago.
