If you have not been living under a box in 2024, chances are that you have come across “Brat,” across social media, the internet or popular culture. Rarely has an album in recent times captured the pop zeitgeist as wholly (or as convincingly) as the 6th studio album from Charli XCX. While the album embraced its themes of self-confidence, irreverence and recklessness with a veneer of vulnerability in its music, its aesthetics percolated in ripples in the party scenes. While Charli XCX has always been a big draw, with a massive influence on the world of glitchy electronic pop and “hyperpop,” she has always remained on the fringes of mainstream pop stardom. If you have followed her music since the days of “Vroom Vroom EP” or “Pop 2,” you would notice what her sound has trickled into. However, all of that changed in 2024. While “Brat” is an amazing album (possibly my favorite pop album this year), it is a moment that made Charli THE person everyone wants to be seen with, or to be referenced by–be it musicians or politicians!
Perhaps no one more than Charli herself knows the power of striking while the iron is hot. 2024 was the year of the “Brat summer.” This meant that not only did Charli capture global attention with a wonderful album and its rollout, but made sure it was a gift that kept on giving. Shortly after the album’s release, Charli started to release bonus tracks and remixes of some of the songs featuring big names like Lorde or Billie Eilish. She kept toying with the idea of releasing a remix album with featured guest artists, with alternate versions of the tracks. In other words, she wanted to present to us “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat,” which is not only the name of this album but an accurate description of what it is. While your enjoyment of this album may depend on how much you enjoyed “Brat,” the remix album does a good job of giving new insights into many of these songs, which very often matches the thump of the actual album. In no way does this remix album feel like a formality or a cash-grab.
The remix of “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish is a hypnotic rager that basks in unapologetic lust. Lorde features on the remix of “Girl, so confusing” which is a highlight of this album. The album also presents us with more intimate and scaled down versions of songs. “Everything is romantic” features the ethereal vocals of Caroline Polachek and works as a beautiful conversation between her and Charli. “I might say something stupid” features The 1975 and Jon Hopkins, and they bring their signature spin on it. I loved the rendition of “Mean girls” featuring Julian Casablancas and “B2b” featuring Tinashe, and I felt that these versions sounded better and more interesting than the standard album counterparts. The same goes for “I think about it all the time” featuring Bon Iver, which on the remix plays like a meditative 80’s disco song. The Japanese House comes through with a wonderful feature on “Apple.”
However, not all songs here click, and some fall into the trap of sounding messy to incorporate the guest artists. The main culprits here are “360” and “Club classics.” The former features big names Robyn and Yung Lean but manages to sound underwhelming and undercooked. The latter does not hold a candle to the infinitely superior original.
It is amazing to see Charli bring her punch to every song in this collection. Her performances are passionate and earnest. The production is impeccable throughout the album–and packs big names like A. G. Cook, The Dare, Gesaffelstein, Finn Keane and Finneas. All of them have worked together to deliver this companion/sister album to a spectacular hit album that manages to sound like a love letter to hyperpop and a glimpse into the future of this style.
On the whole, the “Brat: Remix” works as a good insight into the mind of one of the most game-changing and forward-thinking pop musicians of our time. While it has its spots of mess here and there, the goods are overwhelmingly high on this set of remixes. That is enough to make a casual listener want to check this album out.