Music Monday: Charli XCX Creates A Summer Success By Sticking To Her Brand

If you’ve spent any amount of time online this year, then you have probably come across the phrase “brat summer” — a term that gets its name from the sixth studio album by English singer/songwriter Charlotte Aitchison (better known by her stage name, Charli XCX). Its recognizable album cover consists only of a neon green background and the word “brat” written in simple black lowercase text, aesthetic features that became a core part of the album’s spread online.

It’s hard to define what exactly a “brat summer” is, but to me, the album — simply called “Brat” — is a perfect example of what happens when an artist doubles down on the creative choices that have made them unique, rather than caving to the pressure for commercial success. In the case of Charli XCX, this resistance culminates into a rare zeitgeist moment, in which the work rapidly spreads in popularity. People are interested not only in consuming it but also in emulating the lifestyle and self-concept that it represents.

To understand “Brat,” you have to understand the development of Aitchison’s artistry. From her beginnings in the London rave scene of the late ’00s, Charli XCX has remained rooted in Y2K club music origins and has made music that lives on the edge of what successful pop can do. Aitchison has not been interested in churning out top 40 hits, but, stylistically, it is not the way folksy indie artists armed with nothing more than an acoustic guitar are uninterested. To Aitchison, less isn’t always more — she’s not afraid for her music to do or be a lot.

She also isn’t afraid to do and be a lot herself — frequently dabbling in the glamorous, brash and sophisticatedly over-the-top. Over the past decade, Charli XCX has been a significant figure in hyperpop, a maximalist pop subgenre that is highly stylized and makes extreme use of synthesizers and basslines through compression and distortion.

“Brat” comes on the heels of her fifth studio album “Crash,” and, in many ways, the two are one another’s opposites in the Charli XCX catalog. “Crash” is Aitchison’s most radio-friendly album, which is no accident. It was created to be a commercial success, and, in general, it feels like a toned-down version of Charli XCX. The production is more akin to other synth-pop albums of the time and lacks the exaggerated sounds Charli XCX had become known for. She has referred to it herself as the “sellout album,” a title that many fans — somewhat disappointedly — have agreed with.

On the other hand, “Brat” — in a quintessentially Charli XCX fashion — doesn’t shy away from being extreme. The production’s speed and intensity vary from track to track, but it’s all unified by a high-powered, synth-driven sound that is not used the same way between any two songs. Aitchison sets the tone for the album in the opening track, “360.”

“I went my own way and I made it,” she sings. “I’m your favorite reference baby.”

Positioning herself as a trend-setting it-girl with all the confidence of a rockstar, Charli XCX doesn’t try to smooth out her rough edges in either her production or her self-presentation. Instead, the individual listener wants to be flawed and messy in all the ways she is — because she makes it look so cool.

“Brat,” though, isn’t entirely about being a cool and confident party girl — though a lot of it certainly is. Womanhood is an important theme in “Brat,” and Aitchison approaches it in a few different ways. The song “Mean girls” is an anthem for the kind of woman Charli XCX seems to believe herself and her fans to be.

“Yeah, she’s in her mid-twenties, real intelligent / Hedonistic with the gravel, drawl and dead eyes,” Aitchison sings. “This one’s for all my mean girls.”

Despite being a self-described “mean girl,” in interviews, Aitchison usually comes off as down-to-earth and friendly. Maybe that means this label is simply part of an on-stage persona. I think the “mean girl” title also helps to contrast the song “Mean girls” to “Sympathy is a knife,” which precedes it on the album. In the song, Aitchison describes having her insecurities inflamed by another woman, in particular her sympathy which — as suggested by the song’s title — is a “knife.” Aitchison does not consider “nice” to be the inherently good alternative to “mean,” instead pointing out the ways apparent niceness or “sympathy” can be weaponized. Docility and superficial niceties, oftentimes expected of women, are rejected by Charli XCX. They are not part of the “brat” ethos.

Throughout “Brat,” Charli XCX takes breaks from the club hits and confidence songs that define the album’s character to engage with more personal aspects of her life. She explores the uncertainty that surrounds a blossoming relationship in “Girl, so confusing,” generational trauma in “Apple” and fears around motherhood in “I think about it all the time.” These tracks ground the album’s flamboyant style into everyday themes and provide a needed change of pace.

The success of “Brat” becoming prolific online is because Charli XCX successfully presented multiple, seemingly self-contradictory characteristics of herself throughout the album. She is equal parts confident, vulnerable, cool and flawed. It is difficult not to find that appealing in someone, and it is even harder not to want to be like that yourself. Combined with the album’s recognizable branding and return to the authentic style of its creator, “Brat” has something that strikes a nerve, in such a way that the idea behind it is as important as the thing itself.

“Brat” can be interpreted as a lifestyle, a kind of femininity that Aitchison espouses or a statement on who Charli XCX is as an artist. Whichever is the case — and it may be all of the above — it works because Charli XCX knows who she is. The album feels like a culmination, a necessary endpoint of where Aitchison’s career has taken her. I don’t know if the stars will ever again align for Aitchison to create another album with quite the same impact as “Brat.” We may see its influence in the work of other artists, but none of them will be able to catch lightning in a bottle again.

Really, I hope Aitchison herself doesn’t attempt to recreate “Brat” in her next album, instead working in the same spirit that gave it to us in the first place. Most of all, I hope whatever she does next is fun and different — because fun and different is what Charli XCX is good at.