Charli XCX took over the summer with her album “brat” but she’s not done yet. She staked her claim on autumn by releasing the long-awaited remix album last week and fans are ecstatic.
The original album, released on June 7, won over the hearts of fans and casual listeners alike with the combination of Charli XCX’s signature club sound paired with the extremely vulnerable lyrics of “brat.” The album’s hits like “Apple” and “Sympathy is a knife” are upbeat dance tracks that focus on Charli XCX’s rocky familial life and her insecurities about being compared to other pop artists.
Since the release of “brat,” Charli XCX has been dropping remix after remix featuring artists such as Addison Rae, A. G. Cook, Billie Eilish, Lorde and Troye Sivan. Charli XCX re-released the entire album on Oct. 11, cleverly titled “brat and it’s completely different but also still brat,” with every track almost completely remixed. It includes additional artists like Ariana Grande, Julian Casablancas, Kesha, Tinashe, Shygirl, The 1975 and many more.
The remix album keeps a similar vulnerable, indie sleaze, 365 party girl vibe from “brat” for most of the tracks but delves into a softer indie sound for others. One of these tracks is “I think about it all the time” which originally featured spoken word lyrics reflecting on Charli XCX’s uncertainty about having a child in her current stage in life over electronic and highly-edited instrumental. The remix features Bon Iver, who takes this remix in a refreshing synth direction that breaks up the thumping dance tracks but keeps the foundations of the song that make it brat.
One of my favorite remixes released on the new album is “Everything is romantic” with Caroline Polachek. “Everything is romantic” is an experimental track that laments on a summer stay in Italy and appreciating the little things in life, and the vibe of Polachek’s solo work meshes well with the sound and themes of the original.
In Polachek’s remix, she brilliantly expresses the same idea, twisting it to reflect on an autumn day in a big city instead. The track features a raw conversation between the singers in which Charli XCX asks Polachek for advice on her work-life balance. I was very excited to see Polachek would be on this track since Charli XCX has collaborated with her before — I could not have thought of a better person for “Everything is romantic.”
However, some remixes on this album don’t feel as intentional and like they were just done to satisfy the need for a remix album. The remix of “Club classics” and “365” come to mind for me because neither track changes enough from the original. “Club classics” with rapper BB Trickz was particularly disappointing because it strips away the verses that made it a top track on “brat” and incorporates lines from “365.” This leaves the listener confused about which remix they are listening to.
The remix album has brought back the hype from brat summer, which truthfully never really left, and has many people excited about ranking tracks. However, it feels like the conversation has become more about how cool or iconic the accompanying artist on the track is rather than focusing on the content, which is the opposite of Charli XCX’s intent.
“I think songs are endless and have the possibility to be continuously broken down, reworked, changed, morphed, mutilated into something completely unrecognizable,” she said in an Instagram post. The record is an experiment in collaboration and vulnerability, which it executes very well. The artists featured on the album are incredibly iconic and will impact pop culture for decades to come but the focus of the remix album is the act of collaboration not the artists.
I’ve been a fan of Charli XCX for a while now and I’m excited to finally see her in the spotlight. With the success of her albums and the Sweat tour she’s currently co-headlining with Troye Sivan, expect a brat autumn, brat winter and perhaps even a brat year.
4/5 stars
jhammer@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @charli_xcx, Instagram
