In the four months between the release of
Brat and
brat and it's completely different but also still brat,
Charli xcx experienced a truly stunning rise. By capturing the mood of 2024 with
Brat's hedonistic, witty, and heartbreaking songs, she went from an artist who, in her own words, was "almost famous, but not quite" to one with career-high chart positions in the U.K. and the U.S., an entire season devoted to her, and memes so popular they were adopted by national political campaigns. With
brat and it's completely different but also still brat,
xcx uses her success to continue
Brat's no-holds-barred conversation about fame, feminism, friendship, creativity, and love by imbuing every track with more meaning and more viewpoints.
These reworkings are more than just a bunch of features, though
brat and it's completely different's guest list is impeccable. It's also studded with friends old and new:
A.G. Cook joins
xcx to revisit the heartfelt
SOPHIE tribute "So I," paring it down to little more than fragments of wistful melody and haunting memories. Similarly, the years of friendship between
xcx and
Caroline Polachek can be felt on "Everything Is Romantic" as
Polachek's silky vocals take the track's dreamy introspection to new heights. While nobody could have predicted a
Charli xcx and
Ariana Grande collaboration prior to
Brat's release, the megastar's cameo feels perfectly natural on this version of "Sympathy Is a Knife," with the pair finding solidarity in dealing with impossible demands and beauty standards. Likewise,
Lorde joins
xcx in thwarting expectations of rivalry by working it out on the remix of "Girl, So Confusing," the
Brat song she inspired. Arriving soon after
Brat's first flush of praise, the prowling
Billie Eilish team-up "Guess" feels like an outlier compared to the rest of
brat and it's completely different's moodier tone, but it remains a standout and a vital part of the
Brat story.
For some of these more soul-baring remixes,
Charli xcx enlists indie rock stalwarts from the 2000s and 2010s, providing a counterpoint to the electronic sounds of that era that fueled the original album.
Julian Casablancas helps transform "Mean Girls" into a world-weary synth pop exploration of doomed relationships that's of a piece with his latter-day work with
the Strokes and
the Voidz; while
Bon Iver steers "I Think About It All the Time" toward more conventional-sounding balladry, its mood still cuts to the bone. At its best,
brat and it's completely different's numerous and varied collaborators reflect
Charli xcx's grasp of pop music's history as well as how easily she moves between different creative circles.
Robyn, the godmother of the candid, inventive pop
xcx excels at, reminds listeners that she's been "killing this sh*t since 1994" on the pumping remix of "360." In turn, when
xcx brings an up-and-coming artist like Spanish rapper
bb trickz onto an even tighter incarnation of "Club Classics," it feels like she's passing the torch to the next generation. Much more than a victory lap,
brat and it's completely different but also still brat enriches the
Brat listening experience and the understanding of
Charli xcx's artistry. Fans know she's deserved this level of acclaim for years, but the creativity and generosity on display here is more proof that it's high time the mainstream finally caught up to her. ~ Heather Phares
