another brat review, but it's mine and it's about the remix album so it's not
on good and bad remix albums, music industry and a lot of fangirling
Brat this, brat that. Have you had a brat summer? No? You had a thought daughter one? Oh, that’s adorable.
I was not in love with the idea of writing anything about brat. Mostly because I don’t want to write for the algorithm - the same reason why I won’t write about being a Substacker, being a writer on Substack, girlhood, or thinking a lot as a girl who also reads books. But then Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat came out and I’ve realized that this album is the cluster of so many of my thoughts/interests/crushes… it is time.
Also, I loved reading @culture vulture’s live review of TTPD, and as Luce is my biggest inspo, well I am going to do the same (sans live).
Not to be that person, but I have been listening to Charli way before brat.
Like every other person I knew her from Fancy (unlike my boyfriend who ACTUALLY thought that was Lorde) and Break The Rules, but it was her track with 100 Gecs - Ringtone that started my obsession with her, which then put me on the journey of exploring hyper pop.
Listening to Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat feels like a very full-circle moment to me. “Ringtone” comes from 100 gecs’ remix album - 1000 gecs and The Tree of clues - which has some other amazing songs like xXXi_wud_nvrstøp_ÜXXx with Tommy Cash and Hannah Diamond.
The song that made me discover Charli comes from a remix album and now she’s finishing the journey of the album that catapulted her to full stardom with a remix album. She definitely planned this.
If you’re a seasoned Charli enjoyer you will know that her making a remix album like this makes a lot of sense. Charli xcx has always been collaborating with artists on her albums.
If we look at Number 1 Angel (her 3rd album) we’ll find songs with RAYE (in 2017!!!), Uffie (one of Charli’s biggest inspirations), ABRA, and CupcakKe - Lipgloss is one of my favorite Charli’s songs (an acquired taste).
Then on Pop 2, she made songs with Caroline Polachek (Tears is a must-listen), Dorian Electra, Kim Petras (everyone knows Unlock It), and Carly Rea Jepsen.
Moving onto Charli there’s Christine and the Queens on Gone, Kim Petras and Tommy Cash (crush), Lizzo in Blame it On Your Love (which is a rework of my favorite Track 10 from Pop 2), and even Clairo and Yaeji.
How I’m feeling now, maybe because of its vulnerability has fewer collaborators but CRASH comes back with Rina Sawayama and again Christine and the Queens.
Looking back at all the albums I realize that Charli’s ability to collaborate with others has shown me so many amazing artists and made it easy for me to explore both hyperpop and so many other genres. Charli has been the musician who shaped my music taste, partly because she exposed me to so many artists.
So remixes albums usually suck… but not this one?
This remix album feels like a big deal, but almost every other album gets remixed, but no one seems to care. Did you know that the new Dua Lipa album got remixed by the Blessed Madonna and the actual Madonna is on one of the tracks? I didn’t.
No one really cares about remix albums, because most of the time they feel like: 1) the natural way of the business that is the music industry: you extend the life of an album by remixing it, 2) some of the remixes just suck, 3) the overwhelming feeling of it’s nothing new/this has been done before.
But there have been some amazing remix albums. There’s Björk’s ‘Telegram’ , Radiohead’s, ‘TKOL RMX 1234567’, Massive Attack and Mad Professor’s, ‘No Protection’ and 100 Gecs’ ‘1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues.
But before I start talking about why I think the album will join the list, I want to talk about the music industry for a bit.
All the things I hate about the music industry.
Live, sped-up, acapella, instrumental.
That’s all the versions of Saturn - SZA’s single that she released in 2024. Apart from not really loving the song too much, it was releasing all the versions that recently put me off SZA. And that’s a big deal, she’s been one of my most streamed artists since Ctrl, I even saw her live last year for the SOS tour.
It might be the TikTok-isation of it all, but at the end of the day, it’s the music industry. You want to ride the wave, you want to make more money, and if the music sells, the easiest way of doing it is to release the same song/album with slight alterations. Naturally, Taylor Swift comes to mind here.
There has been a lot of talk regarding Taylor releasing bonus versions of TTPD just in time for Billie Eilish’s new music. Whether the feud is real or not this IS something artists (especially) the big ones do.
I don’t think we need a bonus version of a bonus version of an album. I don’t think we need to have the instrumental, or the reverb, sped up (1x and 2x versions). But I know that we live in a society and people will make money if they can.
But coming back to Taylor. I do not want to put them against and compare - after all, Brat is all about being a woman in the industry, and with the speculations that Sympathy is a knife was about Swift I do not want to add anything to the discussion that probably is built on not much substance (Swift has addressed the speculations and cleared the air, same with Charli). But I could not stop thinking that while Taylor was criticized for releasing the bonus of the album, a remix album - especially done as well as Brat - might be the answer to the organic prolongation of the album’s life and relevance.
People will care about something if it feels more than just the next logical step of a business strategy. In the case of the brat remix album it does. It feels like a collaborative enterprise, but more on that later.
Why is this album so good then?
I do not like each song on this album. I definitely enjoy the original versions of some way more than the new songs, but that’s not the intention of a remix album, at least not of this one.
What I enjoy about this album is that it portrays the scope of today’s pop. And please do not get angry at the genre overgeneralization.
From the first listen of the album I was in awe of how I could just tell from the first two, or three chords that this track is made with The 1975, this one with Bladee, and the other one with The Japanese House. Charli managed to collaborate with most of my favorites so being able to hear them taking a song I already love and making it something that’s their own was really special.
Suddenly Everything is romantic is less cluby but more harmonical because of Caroline. Apple is more poppy but less dancey because of Amber. Bladee works perfectly on Rewind and Mean Girls with Julian Casablancas is unexpectedly so, so fun. Oh, and Matty saying stupid broke my heart a few times while listening to I might say something stupid.
This album is everything I love about pop in one. And I love pop. Whether that be the hyper version of it from Charli or the experimental from Caroline, the indie from Japanese House, or even the actual, actual pop from Ariana. For a very long time, I was ashamed of liking pop so much. Wouldn’t it be way cooler to say ugh I don’t like that girly stuff. But the girly stuff makes me excited and makes me dance in my room and smile on the tram.
Listening to this album shows me that, well, there’s nothing wrong with it. Pop is a beautiful genre that can be extremely exciting, vulnerable, and playful. And I am so grateful that not only Charli but also all the other artists featured are getting their moment.
I just imagine them as one big group of friends that just had so much fun in the studio together! And maybe (probably) that is wrong because Charli is not Charli alone but a group of people who understand music, marketing, and frankly the masses. But there is a big collaborative feel to this album. It just feels like they all had fun making their songs and you can really hear it in the music.
Final thoughts before the final review.
The other thing that stood out to me on this album is the auto-reflectiveness of it all.
By allowing artists to have this much freedom on the tracks the songs become a commentary on top of an already very commentary album. It shows the possibilities of art. Art can always be interpreted in a new way, a piece can suddenly become something completely else while retaining its core. And while it does happen a lot - especially with electronic music, it does not happen as much with lyrics.
On I think about it all the time Charli even reflects on the album itself:
First off, you're bound to the album
Then you're locked into the promo
Next thing, three years have gone by (Scared to run out of time)
Me and George sit down and try to plan for our future
But there's so much guilt involved when we stop working
'Cause you're not supposed to stop when things start working, no
And Everything is romantic has some of the top lyricism on the album, dare I say I like it even more than Girl, so confusing.
When artists allow their art to be reinterpreted beautiful things can happen. And I think it is one of the reasons Charli xcx has managed to rise to this level of fame - she accepts that art should be interacted with, should be reinterpreted, taken away from the artists. When art is constrained and only supposed to be looked at, or accessed by the artist themselves it becomes secluded.
Mix the interaction factor with today’s ability to create content (thinking about TikTok here) and you have a recipe for success - Charli took it and just look at her.
I am really proud of my girl, and even though there is a gatekeeper somewhere within me that wishes she was still my little secret I am simply very happy for her.
THE FINAL FINAL REVIEW - me reviewing each song in one sentence (almost)
360 featuring robyn and yung lean
First remix released way before the album, played it too much to love it now.
Club classics featuring bb trickz
Spanish and a good club beat will always work!
Sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande
I was a bit wowed when I saw Miss Ariana on the promo for the album, and I did think it was going to be about the SpongeBob man drama, but it’s more about the pressure of beauty norms, which 1) totally get, valid, 2) from the PR perspective just makes more sense. Not my favorite, however.
I might say something stupid featuring the 1975 & jon hopkins
I LOVE this one. And I just love the 1975 so it was a given, but this song reminds me so much of Is there somebody who can watch you (one of my favorite The 1975 songs). Matty and the piano is all I need.
Talk talk featuring troye sivan
Have been listening since it came out! F-U-N!
Von dutch a. g. cook remix featuring addison are
Same, same F-U-N.
Everything is romantic featuring caroline polachek
It is like two geniuses exchanging their wisdom - perfection.
Rewind featuring bladee
It’s hard to accept you might be a drainer, but I might have a music crush on Bladee. I love their other collaboration - Drama with Mechatok!
So I featuring a.g. cook
Made me almost cry on a motorbike, even more vulnerable than the original one. SOPHIE really was one of a kind. Beautiful way to upkeep her legacy.
Girl, so confusing featuring lorde
I don’t think I need to say anything.
Apple featuring the japanese house
I do like the original more, but it is so quintessentially Japanese House that I still have been listening to it on repeat!
B2b featuring tinashe
Well yes!
Mean girls featuring julian Casablancas
So unexpected!!!! Julian is a girl!
I think about it all the time featuring bon iver by Charli xcx & Bon Iver Lyrics
Here I will use the judgment of the biggest Bon Iver fan I know, Jack Loftus of Jack Loftus Music. Here’s what Jack had to say:
It’s better than the original (Jack might be a bit biased). He (Bon Iver) is no stranger to experimentation (but also Jack, Jack is a crazy guy) and new sounds and him singing to a LoFi, barky dog sample - I think is just really great.
365 featuring shygirl by Charli xcx & Shygirl
This year is the year I discovered Shygirl and I am so happy I did. Nasty (her single from 2018) is such a good song.
Guess featuring billie eilish by Charli xcx & Billie Eilish
This one grew on me over time tbh, but I do like the original more (scandalous?)
that’s all, xoxo
I had so much fun writing this. I am so happy I am coming to terms with what I love the most <3
jack loftus music approves this message