Few artists have spent the past decade pushing pop music forward as relentlessly as Charli XCX. While many know her from massive hits like “Boom Clap” or her collaborations on “I Love It” and “Fancy,” those songs only tell a small part of the story. Behind the scenes—and increasingly in the spotlight—Charli became one of pop’s most adventurous innovators, helping popularize the futuristic sounds of hyperpop while continually challenging expectations of what mainstream music could sound like.
By the time BRAT arrived in June 2024, she had already built one of the most fascinating catalogs in modern pop. Albums like Pop 2, Charli, how i’m feeling now, and Crash demonstrated an artist equally comfortable making experimental club music and polished pop anthems.
BRAT somehow manages to combine both worlds.
At first glance, it appears to be a carefree dance record built for sweaty nightclubs and festival stages. Underneath its pounding electronic beats, however, lies one of Charli’s most emotionally revealing albums. She explores insecurity, jealousy, aging, ambition, fame, friendship, and identity with an honesty that often catches listeners off guard.
The result is not only the strongest album of her career but one of the defining pop records of the 2020s.
Album Overview
The title BRAT perfectly captures the album’s attitude.
It’s playful.
Confident.
Messy.
Provocative.
Self-aware.
Rather than presenting herself as a flawless pop star, Charli embraces contradiction.
She can be wildly confident one moment.
Deeply insecure the next.
Celebrating success while questioning whether she deserves it.
Obsessed with the spotlight while wondering if it has consumed her identity.
That emotional complexity gives the album surprising depth.
Musically, BRAT is rooted in club culture.
House.
Techno.
Electro-pop.
UK dance music.
Hyperpop.
Minimal electronic production.
Everything feels designed to move bodies without sacrificing emotional storytelling.
Unlike many dance albums that rely on constant intensity, BRAT carefully varies its energy. Huge club anthems give way to quieter moments of introspection before exploding back onto the dance floor.
The pacing is exceptional.
Each track feels like another room inside the same unforgettable night out.
Songwriting
Charli has always excelled at writing infectious hooks, but BRAT showcases some of the sharpest and most revealing lyrics of her career.
Rather than hiding behind irony, she frequently confronts uncomfortable emotions directly.
“360” opens the album with swagger and self-confidence while subtly acknowledging the strange performance of modern celebrity.
“Sympathy is a Knife” explores jealousy and insecurity with startling honesty, refusing to disguise emotions that many people would rather keep hidden.
“Girl, So Confusing” examines complicated friendships and perceived rivalries between women in the public eye with remarkable nuance, avoiding simplistic conclusions.
“I Might Say Something Stupid” strips away nearly all bravado, revealing anxiety and self-doubt beneath the confident public image.
“So I” becomes one of the album’s emotional centers, serving as a heartfelt tribute filled with grief and reflection.
“Everything Is Romantic” reminds listeners that beauty still exists amid uncertainty, balancing the album’s emotional turbulence with moments of genuine optimism.
Perhaps the album’s greatest strength is its refusal to simplify complicated feelings.
Charli rarely presents herself as either hero or victim.
Instead, she allows conflicting emotions to exist simultaneously.
That honesty elevates the songwriting far beyond standard dance-pop.
Performance
Vocally, Charli understands exactly what these songs require.
She has never relied on technical vocal acrobatics.
Instead, she excels through personality.
Attitude.
Rhythmic precision.
Emotional authenticity.
Her voice becomes another instrument within the electronic production rather than attempting to dominate it.
On “360,” she sounds effortlessly cool.
“Von Dutch” bursts with confidence and playful arrogance.
“I Might Say Something Stupid” reveals remarkable vulnerability through understated delivery.
Meanwhile, “Apple” demonstrates her ability to make conversational phrasing sound irresistibly melodic.
Throughout the album, Charli constantly adjusts her delivery to match the emotional tone of each track.
Sometimes detached.
Sometimes euphoric.
Sometimes wounded.
Sometimes completely fearless.
Those subtle shifts make the performances surprisingly expressive despite the minimalist production.
Production
The production is nothing short of spectacular.
Working with longtime collaborators including A. G. Cook, Finn Keane (Easyfun), George Daniel, Cirkut, and others, Charli constructs one of the most exciting electronic soundscapes in recent pop.
Every beat feels purposeful.
Bass lines hit with enormous impact.
Synthesizers constantly evolve.
Textures appear and disappear unexpectedly.
Minimal arrangements somehow sound massive.
The production pays tribute to decades of dance music without ever becoming nostalgic.
Classic house rhythms blend with cutting-edge electronic design.
Hyperpop experimentation coexists with immediately accessible hooks.
The mix remains remarkably clean despite its complexity.
Tracks like “Von Dutch” and “Club Classics” deliver relentless club energy, while “Everything Is Romantic” and “So I” reveal how emotionally rich electronic production can become when handled with this level of sophistication.
Few pop albums sound this fresh.
Even fewer maintain such consistency from beginning to end.
Standout Tracks
Although BRAT contains very little filler, several songs stand among Charli’s finest work.
“360” opens the album with irresistible confidence, immediately establishing both its sonic identity and thematic focus.
“Sympathy is a Knife” brilliantly transforms insecurity into an exhilarating electronic anthem, pairing brutally honest lyrics with explosive production.
“Von Dutch” captures Charli at her most playful and confrontational, delivering one of the year’s most infectious club tracks.
“Girl, So Confusing” stands as one of the album’s lyrical highlights, exploring friendship, competition, and misunderstanding with unusual emotional maturity.
“Apple” combines irresistible melodies with deceptively complex reflections on family and identity, becoming one of the album’s most memorable songs.
“So I” provides the record’s emotional heart, demonstrating that Charli’s songwriting can be just as devastating as it is danceable.
Weak Points
BRAT is remarkably cohesive, but its commitment to club music may limit its appeal for some listeners.
Those expecting traditional pop ballads or dramatic vocal showcases may initially find the minimalist electronic approach somewhat repetitive.
A few songs intentionally blur together sonically to preserve the album’s nightclub atmosphere, which occasionally reduces the individuality of certain tracks.
Additionally, Charli’s conversational vocal style won’t appeal to everyone, particularly listeners who prioritize conventional vocal power over personality and rhythmic delivery.
These criticisms, however, largely reflect stylistic preferences rather than shortcomings in execution.
Legacy
Few albums capture a cultural moment as completely as BRAT.
Almost immediately after its release, it became more than just a successful record. Its lime-green artwork, irreverent attitude, and playful embrace of imperfection quickly evolved into a broader cultural phenomenon. “Brat summer” became shorthand for a carefree, confident, and unapologetically messy approach to life, extending far beyond music into fashion, social media, and popular culture.
More importantly, the album cemented Charli XCX’s long-established reputation as one of pop’s most influential innovators. After years of shaping the sound of modern pop both as a solo artist and songwriter for others, BRAT brought widespread recognition to an artist whose influence had often outpaced her commercial profile.
Its impact can already be heard across electronic pop, dance music, and alternative pop, where artists continue embracing club-oriented production alongside emotionally vulnerable songwriting.
BRAT didn’t simply dominate conversations during its release year.
It changed them.
Final Score: 9.5/10
BRAT is an exhilarating, emotionally intelligent dance-pop masterpiece that showcases Charli XCX at the absolute peak of her creative powers. Its fearless songwriting, immaculate electronic production, confident performances, and remarkably cohesive artistic vision combine into one of the strongest pop albums of the decade.
By refusing to separate vulnerability from celebration, Charli creates a record that works equally well on the dance floor and through headphones late at night. Every listen reveals new production details, lyrical insights, and emotional contradictions, giving the album exceptional replay value.
Only the rarest records achieve this balance of innovation, accessibility, and cultural impact. BRAT comes remarkably close, standing not only as the finest album of Charli XCX’s career but also as one of the essential pop albums of the 2020s.
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