Ring in the fall season with new ‘Brat’ remix

For most artists, a deluxe album consists of maybe three or four more songs, and potentially bringing in a trending artist to feature on the single with the most streams. But most albums aren’t “Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat” by Charli xcx.

As a whole, this album completely redefines what listeners expect from a deluxe, or an extended version of an album. That’s because this album is actually a remix.

This 18-track record takes the songs from the original “Brat” album and gives each song a complete rework. In the original album, Charli writes “Brat” from the perspective of being a genre-bending party girl, unsure of if she’s a superstar or just another wannabe pop-star from across the pond.

This remix album, still very much in the realm of “Brat,” is now Charli’s commentary on catapulting into a new level of fame, through the lens of a club DJ.

She brings in 19 artists to feature on a variety of singles or reworked tracks, that range from Billboard favorites like Ariana Grande, Lorde and Billie Ellish, to more niche club artists like Shygirl, Bb trickz and 2000’s favorite party girl, Kesha.

Charli turns her popular songs like “Apple” and “360” into club dance anthems driven by strong baselines and reworked verses. The chorus of these songs are layered in the back, as effects and transpositions are layered over lyrics.

She continues this trend of making club music with songs like “Club classics” and “Guess” that have bass bumping chords and lyrics centered around black lacy underwear or bringing back the coveted dance heavy vibe of 2000s clubs.

This album is not all about glamorizing “bumps” or other rave-esque motifs, but also offers an inside look into her life as she enters her early 30s.

Towards the end of “I think about it all the time,” she asks if she "should stop [her] birth control? / ’Cause [her] career still feels small in the existential scheme of it all.” Here, listeners have an inside look into the personal life of 33-year-old Charli struggling to understand if the global sensation of her neon green album is a fluke, and if she should quit to pursue motherhood.

This creates an apparent dissonance felt in many of electric forward tracks and when compared to their content heavy lyrics. This often leads critics to critique Charil’s use of vulgar language or bold use of party motifs, but as a writer her lyrical depth is far from scornful.

Charli opens up further in her album by weaving in verses from her musical peers, and their own personal struggles regarding fame and the opinions of the media.

On “Sympathy is knife,” she and Grande take turns referring to the phenomenon created by their fans, in which they are expected to be the same bubbly pop girls from 2014 while also still being the edgy chic divas known to their newer audiences.

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“Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat” is an album that has introduced an entirely new fan base to club music, while also still catering to Charli’s established fan base. This remix album is a new concept to the world of pop music, and its undeniable popularity will inspire the future creation of pop albums.

Score: 9/10

youngk20@miamioh.edu