“It’s a brat summer!” is a phrase most have heard said somewhere over the past few months. Whether online, in stores, or on the radio, “Brat” by Charli XCX has taken over the music world.
Released June 7, “Brat” received over 75.4 million streams in only its first week on Spotify. The 41-minute album has 15 songs, featuring remixes with popular artists such as Ariana Grande and Bladee.
A big piece of the charm for “Brat” is the minimal album cover. It is simply a bright lime green background with the word brat across the center in the font arial narrow. The color has easily become a signature for the album as it has grown more and more popular. Charli XCX has also been working on remix albums for the original, helping to keep its popularity maintained.
Only 3 days after the release of “Brat,” the deluxe “Brat and it’s the same but there’s 3 more songs so it’s not.” was released. The remix album titled “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat” then came out on Oct 11, 2024. These back to back releases have kept brat fans and the internet as a whole interested in the album, rather than moving past it after a few months.
The first, and most streamed song on the album is “360.” It is a fun and futurepop sounding song to start the album that talks about confidence and compares herself to industry icons such as Julia Fox and Gabbriette. It is a high energy song and a great intro to the album as a whole.
The final song on the album, “365,” brings the album full circle by featuring the same beat as the first song, “360.” The hit song “365” is another high energy song which discusses being a “party girl.” These two songs start and conclude the album with their similar styles, and represent the album as a whole very skillfully.
One of the most notable songs on the album online is “Apple,” which discusses Charli XCX’s family life and traits she has inherited through it. She discusses the struggle with this topic as well as showing her growth since then. “Apple” also has gone viral for a dance that goes along with it on social media platforms. On TikTok, the song has 1.7 million posts, with some videos reaching over a million likes. Everyone seeing and doing this dance greatly boosted the overall streams of the album.
On the contrary from the high energy so far, “I Might Say Something Stupid” is more of a melodic and sorrowful song. Charli XCX opens up about her thoughts of not belonging and definitely gets more vulnerable in this song compared to the majority of the album. On her remix album, she works with The 1975 to add onto this song, further tying in the sorrow and slower melody of the song.
One thing that makes “Brat” stand out is that it has so many remixes and albums built off of it. The song “Guess” became a huge hit after Charli XCX collaborated with Billie Eilish on the song. This remix became the most streamed song out of all the Brat songs and remixes. There are other collaborations within the album as well such as “Talk Talk” with Troye Sivan and “Girl, So Confusing” featuring Lorde.
The album had much anticipation upon its release and became even bigger than expected when actually put out onto platforms. It has become a viral sensation and a highlight of 2024 music . This album not only has high energy, vulnerability and futuristic sounds, but also includes Charli XCX’s “flaws, mess-ups, and ego all rolled into one” as she said in an Instagram post. “Brat” is a perfect party album while still having songs that can fit a more relaxed narrative.
