Now firmly over halfway through 2024, we can say with certainty that it has been an excellent year for new music, especially for women in music. In April, Taylor Swift released her most recent double album ‘The Tortured Poets Department‘ mid world-tour- a month later, fellow female chart-topper Billie Eilish dropped the critically acclaimed ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft‘. They’ve been followed by artists such as Camila Cabello, Megan Thee Stallion and Sabrina Carpenter, all big names in popular music, having released anticipated albums. No one has been sitting around listening to Limp Bizkit, that’s for sure. It’s in and amongst this pantheon of spectacular female pop artists that a champion has emerged, taking the cultural crown. With cryptic and creative marketing, as well as the nostalgic return to club culture, Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ has topped charts and stolen the hearts of almost every young person I know. It is, well and truly, a ‘brat summer’.
Personal opinion time: It did have to grow on me, but I absolutely adore Brat. I love how dynamic the tracklist is- from techno, synthy tracks like ‘360’ to the more downbeat melancholy of ‘I might say something stupid’. It is definitely my ‘getting ready to go out’ album of the year, dethroning Midnights in a beatdown of biblical proportions. Also surprisingly good for beating your housemates’ time trial records on Mario Kart Wii. Like so many of my peers, I have fallen completely in love with Charli’s unapologetic, hedonistic dance tracks- but why? I have no straight answer. I have never been a listener of electropop or dance music in my life, far from it, I actually kind of hated the genre and scene. It all seemed so same-ish (apologies to the one hyperpop superfan sulking in the corner) and boring to me, but I could say that for so many genres that seem to be resurrecting so quickly- disco, club, jazz, synthpop.
When I think Brat, I think of one person in particular and that’s my mate Tom: Brat superfan and all round techno kinda guy. Obviously, it would be sacrilege to write an article about the album without consulting the expert. I wanted to know a) why brat was such an important album in its own right, and b) why it had become such a cultural phenomenon this summer. He did not disappoint.
In response to my first query, Tom said that:
‘The music on brat is resonant, from empowering tracks like 360 that effortlessly fit into many a ‘hot girl summer’ playlist, to emotionally devastating songs like: so I, a song made all the more powerful by being dedicated to the late Sophie. Brat is able to cover multiple emotions in one package, from playful, to introspective, to painful, romantic and sexually liberated in the case of guess. This emotional variety and resonance creates a greater staying power for many of its listeners, due to the many ways it can soundtrack Their lives, thus Brat has the potential to be your summer soundtrack no matter the kind of summer you’re having.
Brat is also somewhat of a culmination of the ‘bubblegum bass’, or ‘hyperpop’ music movement, a genre pioneered by artists like Charli xcx, Sophie, Dorian Electra and 100 gecs. One such feature of this music is that it can be abrasive and challenging for listeners. Brat, while having its abrasive moments, is a much more commercially accessible and
listenable album, thus making it the perfect mainstream hyperpop album, having just enough edge balanced with accessibility.’
And then onto the cultural phenomenon. From the infamous ‘brat wall’, to the idea of the TikTok-popularised ‘brat summer’, onto *the* Kyle MacLachlan becoming an unexpected ‘brat icon’, this album is everywhere. You cannot leave the house without it seeing referenced somewhere. Lime green leaves on a tree? Brat tree. An old photo of the Queen wearing the colour? She was a brat out of time. Tennis ball in your dog’s mouth? I could go on. But why is it that this album has become such a big deal? Tom has thoughts again:
‘In my mind the ‘brat phenomenon’ is due to a multitude of reasons. First of all, most
obviously, it’s summer time; people are going out, partying, drinking and generally having a good time! Brat perfectly provides tracks to soundtrack this time like: 360, ‘Von Dutch’, ‘Mean Girls’ and especially ‘365’. Even tracks that have a heavier subject matter wise like: ‘Sympathy is a knife’, ‘Apple’ and ‘Girl, so confusing’, still have very danceable instrumentals and sing along choruses.
Another important factor is the time this album is coming out. Music genres tend to grow in popularity partly based on nostalgia from previous eras. Notably, 80s music and disco both had a surge in popularity in the late 2010s with albums from artists such as The Weeknd utilising a more synth-centric sound. Logically, it would make sense there would be a throwback to music from the 1990s and early 2000s. Brat is very much a throwback to the latter, only with its dials turned up to the maximum, creating a unique experience.
Then there is social context. I was talking with a friend a while ago about trends in music and they told me that punk music tends to be very popular before times of great political turmoil, and disco music tends to become more popular during those times of political turmoil. Brat fits this pattern as well, it comes to a world in the shadow of COVID, austerity and a cost of living crisis. A world that constantly fights for an end to systemic violence at the hands of governments and a world facing existential fear of the future: and it says, ‘I’m hosting a party, it’s gonna be OK’.
Finally, there’s something that could only make Brat the phenomenon it has become on the internet – memes. The album cover is extremely simple: Ariel text and a lime green backdrop. As a result of the popularity of Brat and the internet’s tendency to remix and recontextualise, lime green has suddenly become intertwined with Brat. The album cover format has been used in differing contexts, from random memes to political organizations like Greenpeace. Brat has been able to find a place in culture that has nothing to do with the music itself, further ingraining it into public consciousness.’
Overall, the album is a 10/10, and one that I and many others believe will become a ‘club classic’. Give it a go and see what you think!
