Soundcheck with Ethan

BRAT: The Album That Defined 2024

By: Ethan Barrocas
Content Warning: Adult Language 

One February evening in Brooklyn could’ve been a typical night, but in a warehouse, something was brewing. Heavy bass and flashing lights surround the environment, with lyrics blasting. Global popstar, Charli XCX is headlining her Boiler Room set entitled: PARTYGIRL. The event gathered over 25,000 RSVPs, a record in Boiler Room history. As the PARTYGIRL event gained traction on social media, it made many think, “How can someone be so goddamn cool?” 

At PARTYGIRL, Charli XCX teased the first lead single, “Von Dutch,” from her soon-to-be album, BRAT. The song is all about celebrating people who gossip and are jealous. It’s the ultimate hot girl anthem with an addictive synth-heavy beat and catchy hooks like, “I’m just living that life, Von Dutch, cult classic but I still pop.” The song name is a reference to the 2000’s brand Von Dutch. Charli stated in a Vogue interview, “My use of that brand name was more about the idea of it being this cult classic brand. This thing is something that people on the internet scramble to get their hands on. Kind of like me: cult classic baby.” “Von Dutch” was released on February 29th, 2024, and featured a chaotic music video of Charli at the Charles de Gaulle airport, surrounded by flashing lights and fast camera movements. She even jumps off the wing of an Airbus A380. “Von Dutch” was a critically acclaimed single with outlets like Pitchfork saying “The first single from BRAT has its heart in the club and its ass on a Harley” (Anna Gaca, Pitchfork, 2024). 

(Charli XCX  and Addison Rae at Boiler Room: PARTYGIRL in Brooklyn, NY)

On March 15th, 2024, Charli released a remix of “Von Dutch” with producer A.G. Cook and singer Addison Rae. A snippet of the remix was posted onto social media and a certain part where Addison does this iconic scream captivated so many on the internet. A.G. Cook dominates the production of this song.  The beat differs from the original “Von Dutch,” but still has that electric feel. This song is so addictive, and Addison’s scream on the beat drop is a chef’s kiss. Every time I listen, it feels like I’m hearing it for the first time again. The song would later get nominated at the 2025 Grammys for Best Remixed Recording.

(Album cover of “Von Dutch A.G. Cook Remix featuring Addison Rae”)

Following the success of “Von Dutch’s” release, Charli dropped two more singles on April 3rd, 2024, “Club Classics,” and “B2B.” Both are very dance-heavy songs with “Club Classics” talking about just having a good time with your friends in the club. “B2B” on the other hand, takes a different approach. Charli discusses whether or not she should go through this ex-situationship again. These two singles weren’t as huge as “Von Dutch,” however they remain a favorite among fans. 

After the release, Charli officially announced her newest album entitled, BRAT, which would release on June 7th, 2024. Fans were puzzled with the minimalistic route she was taking with the album cover, sporting an ugly slime-green (now known as BRAT green,) with the word “brat” in all lowercase. This creative choice by Charli would soon become one of the most iconic moments in pop culture history.

(Album cover of BRAT)

The last lead single, “360,” dropped on May 10th, 2024. This song instantly went viral on TikTok, cementing that this new Charli XCX era wasn’t to be played with. “360” talks about being the “it girl” and makes you feel like you are THAT bitch. The music video that followed suit featured star-studded cameos of Julia Fox, Alex Consani, Emma Chamberlin, Gabriette, and so many more. Charli even goes as far as to shout out some of these girls with lyrics like, “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia,” or “Call me Gabriette, you’re so inspired.”

(Charli XCX in the “360” music video featuring Rachel Sennott and Julia Fox)

On June 7th, 2024, BRAT was released. I was at camp, and due to rules, I wasn’t allowed to have my phone. But I couldn’t just turn it in, I was so hyped for this album. So, I found 1 bar of service, downloaded the album, and my friend and I ran down with my speaker to the lake and started listening. My initial takeaway from BRAT was that, while it is a celebration of the dancefloor, it has moments of sadness and reflection. We recognize Charli at her most self-aware, discussing themes of body image, family trauma, grief, and motherhood. What makes this album stand out is how she showcases these themes over these hard club beats. Take the song “Sympathy Is A Knife” for instance. The track has Charli discussing her self-doubt and how people’s sympathy for her, cuts her like a knife. The knife references her feelings on whether people are being real to her or not, which makes her spiral.

“So I” is a devastating punch to the gut. Charli dedicates this song to SOPHIE, a music producer and one of Charli’s biggest influences. Charli discovered SOPHIE’s music on Soundcloud through her boyfriend at the time and fell in love with her music. They met in Stockholm for a writing session and instantly connected. Together, SOPHIE and Charli were key figures in popularizing hyperpop and pushing it to new heights. On January 30th, 2021, SOPHIE tragically passed away while on a roof trying to take a picture of the moon. In the song, Charli speaks of her regrets in their friendship and wishes she kept SOPHIE closer not knowing she would die soon. I bawled my eyes when I first listened to this. SOPHIE was a true visionary in her craft and there is nobody in the music industry like her. Charli has evolved so much in her artistry because of SOPHIE and was pushed beyond her limits. “So I” is beautifully written and an amazing celebration of SOPHIE’s brilliance.

(SOPHIE in “It’s Okay To Cry”)

The final track, “365,” captures the never-ending cycle of partying. It samples the opener “360,” which can even suggest that BRAT is a loop, like the cycle of partying. Charli goes into heavy detail on her party experiences with lines like, “Bumpin’ that,” which can either refer to music bumping all around the club or doing a line of cocaine.

There is one more song from BRAT that deserves its paragraph; “Girl, So Confusing.” Charli defends herself and says she doesn’t need to be a girl’s girl. Many fans thought this was about her jealousy of Lorde, especially during the time of Lorde’s Pure Heroine era. During that time, the two were being compared constantly. There were many similarities between the two, they both had big hair, an accent, and wore big red lips. Fans of Charli, otherwise known as Angels, have made jokes about these comparisons. The jokes started from a meme in 2013 when Charli did a satirical interview with Hanging with Priscilla Holding Avocados. The interview has Priscilla shading Charli nonstop, even asking her about her song “Royals”, which isn’t even her song, it’s Lorde’s. Many angels speculated a possible remix between the two, where they could work out their issues. Before BRAT was released, Charli shared the song with Lorde. Lorde was shocked to hear that Charli was feeling this way. She immediately apologized and offered to collaborate. 

On June 21st, 2024, an earth-shattering, nexus event ensued. The song “Girl, So Confusing featuring Lorde,” was released on all streaming services. I was still at camp but while I was in the silkscreen department, I went to the computer to play music. I was curious to see what new releases I missed out on, and there it was. I swear to God I almost fell out of my chair. This was like Jesus coming back from the dead for pop culture fanatics and gay people, this was huge! This remix is amazing. It keeps the same beat and the same Charli verse, but Lorde adds a new element to the song, expressing how she feels towards Charli. She sings about her body image, the competition between women in the music industry, and many other topics. A lyric that stood out to me was when Lorde said, “Let’s work it out on the remix,” emphasizing how she wants to put the drama behind them.

(Album cover of “Girl, so confusing featuring lorde”)

The promotion for BRAT was a masterclass in marketing. Charli showed how far she can branch herself out to the masses with the most limited marketing possible. A great example of this is the “Brat Wall.” On May 2nd, 2024, Charli held a surprise pop-up performance in Brooklyn where she sang some of the songs off the album. She then revealed the location of a wall, now known as the “Brat Wall.” This wall was used for all sorts of promotion for the album. It changed from the album cover to lyrics being added, or to even tease features. It was a simple yet effective and smart move from her and her team. The wall was updated on June 10th saying, “Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not.” On the same day, as the title says, three more songs were added, “Hello Goodbye,” “Guess,” and “Spring Breakers.” Fans of Charli were especially ecstatic about the release of “Spring Breakers” due to it being teased at the PARTYGIRL event in Brooklyn. Many thought the song would be released on the main album and when fans found out it wasn’t, they were confused. Charli took notice and added it as a deluxe track. 

(A photograph of the BRAT wall)

BRAT was an instant hit, being called album of the year by many media outlets such as Billboard and Pitchfork. On social media, you could see that ugly slime-green everywhere. One of the songs, “Apple,” went viral on TikTok. Influencer Kelley Heyer created a dance to the song and it skyrocketed to the top of the TikTok charts. Everyone was dancing, it was impossible to escape. The impact of the album even found its way into the United States presidential election. When Kamala Harris was campaigning for the 2024 presidential election, she changed the banner on her X account that said, “Kamala HQ,” in the iconic brat logo. Charli took notice of this and tweeted, “Kamala is BRAT.” It was so cool to see how Kamala Harris was trying to draw in a younger audience by using trends such as BRAT. 

(Charli XCX on X)

On April 17th, 2024, Charli announced she would be going on tour in autumn of the same year with singer/songwriter Troye Sivan. Shygirl, a UK based artist known for her provocative attitude, was set to be the tour opener. The Sweat Tour would stretch across North America, and it started in Detroit on September 14th. During the New York show, they brought out Addison Rae, to which Charli and Addison sang their remix of “Von Dutch”. Troye also came out and they sang Addison’s song, “Diet Pepsi.” I was already jealous of fans who witnessed Addison’s appearance but what set me off was when Charli brought out Lorde to sing their remix of “Girl, So Confusing.” This was an insane experience for the audience live, everyone was losing their minds.  

(My friends and I at the Sweat Tour)

I attended the Miami show on October 5th, and dare I say it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. The entire thing was a rave. If I stopped jumping for a second, I swear, you could feel the entire arena shake. The vibes were immaculate. Troye and Charli switched on and off and closed the show with their remix of Charli’s song “Talk Talk.” One of the most memorable parts of the show was Charli’s entrance. After Troye finished his first set of songs, a BRAT green curtain dropped from the ceiling to reveal Charli. Seeing this in person was so surreal, I went absolutely batshit crazy. After Miami, they continued to other states and eventually ended up in LA. Two more special artists accompanied Charli and Troye; Tate McRae and Kesha. Tate and Troye sang their collaboration “You,” and Kesha joined Charli to sing her remix of “Spring Breakers” with her as well as a solo of her song “TiK ToK.”

((left to right) Troye Sivan, Charli XCX, Lorde, and Addison Rae.)

Throughout the BRAT era, Charli released a few remixes of some tracks with artists. Fans were speculating a remix album to be on the way. On the day when I was on my way to the Sweat Tour, we passed by a billboard in BRAT green that said “Ariana Grande” backward. It turns out this wasn’t the only billboard. Around multiple locations all over the globe, other names were being posted. A billboard in Pasadena read, “Tinashe,” and another in Tokyo that said “Caroline Polachek.” Charli was teasing multiple artists to be featured on this remix album and decided to promote it by putting up billboards in these artists’ hometowns. Nobody has ever done this level of promotion before and it sent fans online into a frenzy trying to find all the artists. Some went even as far as making fake ones to trick people into streaming that artist’s music. The tracklist was given to a fan on a piece of crumpled-up paper during one of the Sweat Tour shows, where it was their job to then post it online. 

(Tracklist for Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat)

I want to take time to highlight the second to last track, “Guess featuring Billie Eilish.” The collaboration was first teased on July 31st, 2024, with Charli asking fans to guess who the collaborator was. The internet went into an absolute frenzy. Everyone was suspecting someone but when Billie Eilish was rumored, everyone believed it and went insane. Once released it featured a raunchy music video. My favorite part of the video is when the beat drops and they rolled down a pile of thongs. The great thing about the music video is all unused undergarments were donated to victims of domestic violence. The song went viral all over social media, everyone was obsessed with Billie and Charli’s energy on the remix. Charli showed up at one of Billie’s concerts to perform the song with her, which brought even more attention to the song. Due to the success of the collaboration, many were left wondering, what’s Charli’s next step?

(Charli XCX and Billie Eilish in the “Guess”  music video)

​​Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat, was released on October 11th, 2024. As the title says, this album manages to completely change every single song and make it into a new one. I remember being so confused about some of the features like The 1975 or Bon Iver because they just don’t seem to be able to fit that Brat vibe, but this remix album shows a new perspective on what BRAT truly means. Being a “brat” is being unapologetically yourself, even if that means being sad because being your authentic self is showing your emotions unapologetically. While there are upbeat songs on the album like “365 featuring Shygirl” or “Club Classics featuring Bb Trickz,” most of the songs take a more personal approach. I like to think of it as the original BRAT is in the club, and the remix album is the emotions after the club. 

My favorite track on Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat is, “I Think About It All The Time featuring Bon Iver.” It manages to showcase the more emotional side this record takes. The original version of “I Think About It All The Time” was my least favorite off of the original album but when this remixed version dropped, my heart was full of emotions. In the original song, Charli discusses her fear of running out of time and missing out on the things she wants like starting a family. In the remixed version she goes more in-depth into her fears and how the success of BRAT made her even more conflicted between her work life and her personal life, showing how she’s nervous about what her future brings. Charli screams that she found love, but she wonders if there’s enough time for the both of them. It’s a very personal song and that’s why it stood out to me. 

Another song that stood out to me was “Sympathy Is A Knife featuring Ariana Grande.” When Ariana was rumored to be on the song, I knew it was perfect for her. During the BRAT era, Ariana Grande received a lot of backlash about her body and even had some rumors about her being a homewrecker. (Also please don’t believe everything you read on the internet, because ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s not even true.) In this remix, Charli allows Ariana to question the haters and ask them why they care so much. It’s an ultimate clap-back anthem at society and how we belittle others to lift ourselves. As a major Ariana fan, it felt so satisfying to hear her get back at the people who wanted to see her fall.

(Charli XCX and Ariana Grande meme)

Charli XCX had only been nominated for two Grammy awards before BRAT’s release. On November 8th, 2024, Charli received eight Grammy nominations! Her nominations included; Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Best Music Video, Best Dance Pop Recording, Best Dance/Electronic Album, and Best Recording Package. The Grammys were on February 2nd, 2025. During the pre-ceremony Charli didn’t just win her first Grammy, she won her first three Grammys. Out of her eight nominations, she won both dance categories and to nobody’s surprise, Best Recording Package. 

Charli also performed that night. She was right before the Album of the Year category and I remember how impatient I was waiting for her to come on. But, it was well worth the wait though. She started outside of the venue and sang “Von Dutch” with a bunch of backup dancers pretending like they were at a party. There were flashing lights everywhere and she did that signature stunt where she hit the camera. She then moved to the main stage where she performed “Guess.” It was such a funny thing to see the celebrities in the audience dancing along to the song. It made me realize that we fans didn’t just have a Brat Summer, but so did these celebrities. They were just as big a fan of hers as I am. When the beat dropped on the song, confetti flew everywhere and everyone on stage was dancing and screaming. This performance was so good because Charli brought something fresh to the Grammy stage. Rather than just a typical live performance, she turned the venue into a rave. Her energy alone got the entire world turned up for her. 

(Charli XCX performing at the 67th Grammys)

On April 12th, 2025, Charli XCX performed at Coachella. She wasn’t a headliner, but by the looks of the crowd she had, I might as well call her one! The setlist was very similar to the Sweat Tour, but oh my God she was collecting cameos like they were infinity stones. She had Lorde appear for their “Girl, So Confusing” remix, Troye Sivan for their “Talk Talk” remix, and Billie Eilish for their remix of “Guess.” She closed the set with an emotional Brat Summer outro. I’m going to recite what it said;

Thank you so much Coachella

Does this mean that Brat Summer is finally over?

Idk?

Maybe?

Yeah cause duh, it was already over like last year.

Wait…was it?

No???

I don’t know who I am if it’s over???

Fuckkkkkkk

Wait… I remembered…

I’m Charli

And honestly

I just want this moment to last forever

Please don’t let it be over.

(Charli XCX  performing at Coachella)

On the second week of Coachella, she brought out Addison Rae and they sang their remix of “Von Dutch.” Charli kept the same outro but it was a bit different compared to the first. When she asks if Brat Summer is finally over, a new message comes on the screen that says “Maybe it’s time for me to let go.” She then flashes a bunch of artists on the screen rapidly with the word summer under it; Lorde Summer, Kali Uchis Summer, PinkPanthress Summer. It then ends by saying, “You can’t dread the end when it’s over.” Brat Summer ended a long time ago and this was Charli’s way of passing the torch. These outros were beautifully done. What I liked the most was how on week one of Coachella she was pleading for it not to be over, but on week 2, she reflected and came to the realization that you have to let go. I agree with her, I want Brat Summer to last forever, but sadly that’s not the case. My 2024 summer was so amazing partially because of this album. Brat Summer hasn’t ended for me but I’m ready for whatever’s in store next.

Watching Charli perform at Coachella made me very emotional. Many artists in 2024 had their “breakout.” Charli has worked so hard in this industry and now she is finally getting her flowers. Many of you might only know her as “The girl from that Iggy Azalea song.” I know her as someone who paved the way for many artists in the industry with her eccentric music and showing that just being a good musician isn’t all you need to be a great artist. You need to create a world that your fanbase can be immersed in. Charli once said, “Music is not important, artistry is.” You can be an amazing musician but if you don’t have that ugly slime-green marketing or your bratty persona to help support you, then how do you expect to truly “make it” as an artist?

Citations:

8, Middle. “I’m so over Brat.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 Apr. 2025, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZwkQ3Z90Vw. 

Cox, Alyson. “Here’s What Happened at Charli XCX’s Viral Boiler Room Set.” V Magazine, 25 Feb. 2024, vmagazine.com/article/heres-what-happened-at-charli-xcxs-viral-boiler-room-set/. 

Charli XCX – Von Dutch Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, genius.com/Charli-xcx-von-dutch-lyrics. Accessed 17 Feb. 2025. 

​​Gaca, Anna. “Charli XCX: ‘Von Dutch.’” Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 1 Mar. 2024, pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/charli-xcx-von-dutch/. 

Charli XCX – 360 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, genius.com/Charli-xcx-360-lyrics. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025. 

Charli XCX – Sympathy Is a Knife Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, genius.com/Charli-xcx-sympathy-is-a-knife-lyrics. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.

Charli XCX – So I Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, genius.com/Charli-xcx-so-i-lyrics. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025. 

Charli XCX – 365 Lyrics | Genius Lyrics, genius.com/Charli-xcx-365-lyrics. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.  

Mlnarik, Carson. “A Brief History of Charli XCX’s ‘brat’ Wall.” Nylon, 2 July 2024, http://www.nylon.com/entertainment/charli-xcx-brat-wall-history. 

honest. YouTube, YouTube, 9 June 2024, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyRBqFghJVE&t=16s. 

Miles, Joe. “Why ‘Brat’ Culture Is Exactly What US Politics Needs Right Now.” The Independent, The Independent, 29 July 2024, http://www.the-independent.com/voices/kamala-harris-charli-xcx-brat-trump-b2587642.html. 

Rodriguez, Krystal. “Charli XCX Brings ‘Brat’ to the 2025 Grammys with a Performance of ‘Von Dutch’ & ‘Guess.’” GRAMMY.Com, 3 Feb. 2025, http://www.grammy.com/news/charli-xcx-2025-grammys-performance.