This year, it seems as though all of the prominent names in pop have released albums — Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish, to name a few. But it was entirely unpredictable that British electronic pop artist Charli xcx, who has remained steadily but somewhat subtly renowned within the music industry for about a decade, would ultimately shake pop culture with her sixth studio album, “BRAT.”
The turn of events is a testament to Charli’s unique and forward-thinking vision. The clubbing-inspired album influenced significant trends in fashion, marketing and even politics. To prolong the success and impact of “BRAT,” the singer announced the highly anticipated remix album — “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat” — filled with an impressive lineup of collaborators, ranging in popularity and style from Ariana Grande to Julian Casablancas.
One of the project’s most distinct features is Charli’s redefinition of what it means to remix a song. In an age where a remix will typically consist of a messy verse inserted into the middle of a song from a more famous artist to boost streams and sales, Charli does it differently. Instead, she incorporates new production, lyrics and messages into each song in order to energize it with new life and meaning. Her remixes are not just superficial alterations, but deep reimaginings that add layers of complexity and honesty to the original tracks. In a remixed track released prior to the album’s announcement, Lorde features on “Girl, So Confusing,” where she and Charli speak over an electronic beat about misunderstandings in their friendship and how they’re perceived as a duo in the public eye. The album’s deeper cuts also showcase Charli’s talent at reinventing what “BRAT” originally expressed in a more melancholic way.
If the original “BRAT” album is about the quintessential night at the club, then perhaps the remix album is about the mindful morning after, when you’re rethinking every decision you’ve ever made. The mourning ballad “So I featuring a.g. cook” pays melancholic homage to late hyperpop artist SOPHIE by sampling her innovative works. Matty Healy’s tongue-in-cheek delivery on “I might say something stupid featuring the 1975 & jon hopkins” gives the original track an even coyer feel with piano instrumentation, giving a distinct feeling of not belonging where you are.
Perhaps one of the most unexpected collaborators on the album is on “I think about it all the time featuring bon iver,” a song in which Charli originally contemplates motherhood, contributes similar ruminations on settling down and finding love by lamenting: “I’m scared to run out of time.” Caroline Polachek strips down “Everything is romantic featuring caroline polachek” by creating a casual exchange of lyrics between the two artists surrounding the idealized life of fame versus the overwhelming reality. She sings, “It’s like you’re living the dream, but you’re not living your life.”
The internet collectively collapsed with “Sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande.” In a beautiful way, both artists were in the perfect position to sing this song about the struggle of fame, with Charli reaching new heights of popularity every day and Grande constantly facing public scrutiny over her body, voice and life. Their respective circumstances drive the remixed version of the song “Sympathy is a knife” to take on a new context. While the original track deals with an intense longing for fame, the remix deals with the repercussions of finally receiving it. The pair sings, “’Cause it’s a knife when you’re finally on top / ’Cause logically the next step is they wanna see you fall to the bottom” underneath a light beat, with both singers commenting on the harsh reality of having the press pick apart personal aspects of their lives.
While some may claim that Charli is milking “BRAT” long past its prime, this album’s opening day streams almost doubled the success of the original, signaling that there is still a clear audience for the era. With no other album quite piercing the cultural zeitgeist in the past year as much as “BRAT” has, Charli’s musical endeavors this year are undoubtedly innovative, vulnerable, exciting and necessary. Although “brat summer” may have come to a close, the remix album is still fresh and new, seamlessly shifting from the original album’s club anthems to the introspective reality of being a true brat.
Contact Amelia Knust at [email protected].