Charli XCX releases an album of remixes like no other, delivering something genuinely new and interesting, but still also brat.
In a social climate where all things messy, chaotic, unexpected, and lazily iconic are defining characteristics of being “brat”, it’s hard to conceive a world in which such terminology doesn’t exist. Since releasing brat on 7 June 2024 to an internet culture that feasts on all things unconventional, the initial 15 track album has become career defining for Charli XCX.
Though Charli previously garnered the most attention for her crash hits such as, I Love It with Icona Pop, and Vroom Vroom, the level of recognition she is now receiving has grown from “I’m famous but not quite,” to undeniable. With an eclectic mix of synth pop ballads, club beats, and a string of gradually released remixes with prevalent pop artists like Robyn and Lorde, it seemed inevitable that brat was “everywhere and so Julia” in its own defining terminology.
In her release of repurposed and re-vocalized songs on 11 October, Charli has offered exactly what was promised, maintaining the barebones of brat’s initial media while creating something entirely different and unexpected.
The Von Dutch A.G Cook Remix featuring Addison Rae, was the first to hit streaming platforms. The tune is stripped of its initial chorus for a self referential exchange of versus between the two performers, as well as an intensified club engineered backing track with a build up punctuated by an infectious scream ad libbed by Addison Rae. This was followed quickly by the remix of 360 featuring Robyn and Yung Lean, that offers a relaxed “bop sentric” spin on the original that reiterates that “you all wanna be like me”. The perfect intersection of dance music and radio pop, these tracks eased listeners into the coming album’s structure of sampling bits, pieces, and thematic ideas from one song and creating something that while vaguely familiar, is entirely brand new.
The most strikingly different from its initial media release is the remix of So I featuring A.G. Cook. Starting out as a somber, slower paced commentary on the loss of SOPHIE, for whom Charli XCX maintained a deep personal admiration, the song lyrically embraced the concepts of grieving, regret and reminiscing. The repetition of “It’s okay to cry. So I know I can cry,” coupled with “ You had a power like a lightning strike,” puts a heavy emphasis on the emotional tribute to the late singer. In its new iteration, the song’s pace is heightened and ends in a climax of techno beats characteristic with A.G. Cook’s production. While it becomes more danceable, reminiscing remains an integral part, as it is anecdotal of Charli’s experiences with SOPHIE and other artists throughout her career.
Most predictable collaborations include Talk Talk featuring Troye Sivan, and I might say something stupid featuring the 1975 and Jon Hopkins, as such artists have maintained interpersonal relationships with Charli XCX for sometime.
The remix of Sympathy is a Knife featuring Ariana Grande, came as a surprising announcement for many fans. Despite its fun and topical nature of women in the industry, it falls short of reaching the level of invigoration invoked by the collaboration with Lorde on Girl, so confusing. Though it does hold its ground more substantially than Mean Girls featuring Julian Casablancas, which lacks any major discourse. However, the raunchy nature of the remix of Guess featuring Billie Eilish, embraces the sexy, dirty sleaze that is sought after in a project of this caliber.
In response to internet speculation over the quality of her vocals and use of autotune, Charli incorporated a display of vocal runs and adlibs on I think about it all the time featuring Bon Iver and Everything is romantic featuring Caroline Polacheck. The feature of Bon Iver on a dance album exists in direct juxtaposition to the rest of his discography, but added a melodic quality and air of seriousness to couple with the subject matter of the track. As Charli unpacks the complexities of her newfound success to the questions that many women face in regards to motherhood and preconceived societal roles, the song builds to a powerful swell of intertwining vocals after her “career still feels small in the existential scheme of it all”.
Almost unrecognizable is the remix of Club Classics featuring BB Trickz ,which has been clipped to create something more stylistically techno, and samples directly from the other songs on the album.
The remixes of B2b featuring Tinashe, and Apple featuring the Japanese House, maintain the general structure of the original songs while embracing the genre characteristics of each of the featured artists. The cultural phenomenon that became the “apple dance,” is a lot more subdued on this synth heavy, “indie-fied” iteration, but still embodies the catchy nature of the tune.
Ending the album on a strong note, the 365 featuring Shygirl is a relentless two minutes of a hammering baseline, explosion of beat, and a blaring repeat of Charli’s vocal samples “365 party girl” and “bumpin’ that”. The first release of 365 was already a reconfigured sample of 360, and it seemed near impossible to take its intended purpose of “club classic” to the next level with exceedingly high energy as is. However, the 365 Remix takes whatever one’s conception of energy is and multiplies that by 10. It creates an aura that can only be done full justice through a live performance, and serves as the dance album’s magnum opus party track.
Releasing an album of remixes unlike any of the prominent women in her genre, Charli has drastically set herself apart from the usual lack of discourse when an artist releases the same song ten times. She has paved the way for the brat mentality to swiftly continue into the autumn season and perhaps the winter to come.
