Charli XCX is a 31 year old singer/songwriter from Cambridge, England, United Kingdom who one might remember for her feature on Iggy Azalea’s biggest hit “Fancy” a decade ago. Her solo material would go on to step leaps & bounds beyond hers with highlights including her 3rd & 4th mixtapes #1 Angel & Pop 2 respectively alongside her 4th & 5th LPs Charli & How I’m Feeling Now. Her previous full-length Crash was the last to be released through Asylum Records about 27 months ago & a decent one at that, so I most certainly had high hopes for Charli’s 7th album backed by Atlantic Records.
PC Music co-founder A.G. Cook mixes bubblegum bass, electropop, pop rap, Atlanta bass & dance-pop into 1 on “360” starting us off singing about going her own way whereas “Club Classics” maintains the primary bubblegum bass sound of the opener with additional elements of bassline, new beat, Jersey Club, fidget house & acid house talking about that being all she wants to hear. “Sympathy is a Knife” takes the hyerpop route instrumentally to tackle themes of self-doubt ahead of “I Might Say Something Stupid” singing over bare pianos thanks to Gesaffelstein about being unsure if she belongs here anymore. Former G.O.O.D. Music in-house producer Hudson Mohawke of TNGHT jumps behind the boards for the undeniably catchy electropop jam “Talk Talk” asking for this man to talk to her that is until the electro house, electropop, dance-pop, Dutch house & electroclash-flavored “Von Dutch” assures that it’s ok to simply admit of one’s jealousy/envy of her.
“Everything’s Romantic” continues to go for an EDM vibe for the beat discussing endlessly falling in love prior to “Rewind” goes electropop once more wishing that she could turn back certain moments of her life. “So I” continues the 2nd half of Brat in the form of a profound dedication to Charli’s late collaborator SOPHIE just before “Girl, So Confusing” turns the electronic dance music influences back up opening up about the confusion it is to be a woman at points. “Apple” keeps the upbeat grooves going reminding that the apple certainly doesn’t fall far from the tree whatsoever, but then “B2B” futuristically talks about going back to back.
The hyperpop song “Mean Girls” takes inspiration from Dasha Nekrasova exploring societies’ fascination with mean women while the penultimate track “I Think About It All the Time” brings a dance-pop flare to the instrumental fearing that she’s running out of time. Finally, the closer “365” ends Brat hypnotically alluding to the never ending cycle of partying. “Hello goodbye” begins the deluxe embarrassing herself in the midst of introducing herself to a potential partner sticking to the PC Music sound while “Guess” has that signature electroclash style The Dare is known for expressing Charli’s sexual desires. “Spring breakers” concludes the bonus track run sampling “Everytime” by Britney Spears chockfull of references to the 2012 film of the same name.
Crash was an average way for Charli to fulfill her Asylum contract couple years back & as we enter further into the summer, Brat reveals to be the most aggressive & confrontational yet most vulnerable album in her discography so far. The production is mainly club-centered evoking & channeling the illegal London rave scene through electropop, EDM, bubblegum bass, electro house, dance-pop, electroclash, pop rap, Atlanta bass, bassline, new beat, Jersey Club, fidget house, acid house & hyperpop providing introspection that might come to you in the midst of a party or the insurmountable dread of the morning after.
Score: 4.5/5
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