Brat is the sixth studio album by British singerCharli XCX, released throughAtlantic Records on 7 June 2024. It features production by Charli XCX, her longtime executive producerA. G. Cook,Finn Keane,Cirkut, her partnerGeorge Daniel, and others. The album draws influence from the 2000s Englishrave music scene, with a more aggressive club sound than her previous album,Crash (2022).
Commercially,Brat peaked at number one in the UK, Australia, Croatia, Ireland and New Zealand, and reached the top ten in 14 other countries, including the United States, where it marked Charli XCX's highest debut on theBillboard 200 (number three). A deluxe edition,Brat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not, was released on 10 June 2024. A remix album, titledBrat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, featuring 20 guest artists, was released on 11 October 2024.
According toMetacritic, which compiles scores from music critics,Brat is the highest-rated album of 2024 and the 15th-highest-rated album of all time. The album was shortlisted for theMercury Prize for 2024 Album of the Year.[2] The cover art and aesthetic originated the cultural phenomenonBrat Summer, and were adopted by U.S. Vice PresidentKamala Harris's2024 presidential campaign after Charli XCXtweeted about the candidate;[3] however, Charli later revealed she was not being political and the tweet was not meant to be a political endorsement.[4]Brat and its songs were nominated for nineGrammy Awards at the67th annual ceremony, includingAlbum of the Year, winning three of them, includingBest Dance/Electronic Album.[5] During 2024–2025, Charli XCX embarked on theSweat tour with collaboratorTroye Sivan, and the soloBrat Tour in support of the album.[6]
Brat is Charli XCX's sixth studio album and first after renewing her contract withAtlantic Records in early 2023.[7][8] It was announced on 28 February 2024, a day before the release of the lead single "Von Dutch".[9][10] On 22 February, during herBoiler Room warehouse set, XCX debuted snippets of tracks identified as "Spring Breakers" and "365".[11] She was joined onstage byAddison Rae andJulia Fox;[12] a "Von Dutch" remix with Rae andA. G. Cook was released on 22 March.[13] On 6 March, she premiered "So I" at theBillboard Women in Music event.[14] "Club Classics" and "B2B" were released on 3 April as a two-packpromotional single.
After teasing the song for a few days, on 29 April, Charli announced the release of the next single, "360". It was released on 10 May alongside its music video, which was teased earlier that day, and was described by her as her "best music video ever". The video features multiple "it girls",[15] includingGabbriette,Chloë Sevigny, Julia Fox, andRachel Sennott.[16] A remix of "360" soon followed, featuring Swedish artistsRobyn andYung Lean, which was released on 31 May.[17] During her 1 June headlining set atBarcelona'sPrimavera Sound festival, she debuted two unreleased songs live, "365" and "Everything Is Romantic".[18]
Brat was released on 7 June 2024.[19] A deluxe edition, titledBrat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not, was released on 10 June, containing three additional songs.[20] On 21 June, a remix version of "Girl, So Confusing" featuring New Zealand singerLorde was released.[21][22] On 1 August 2024, a remix version of "Guess" from the deluxe edition was released featuring singerBillie Eilish.[23] The following day, "Apple" was released to Italian radio as the album's third single.[24] On 12 September, a "Talk Talk" remix featuringTroye Sivan was released along with the announcement of a remix album titledBrat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat which was released on 11 October 2024.[25]
Brat channels the illegalLondonrave scene, where Charli XCX started performing as a teenager.[26] She called it her "most aggressive and confrontational record", but also her most vulnerable.[27] She also stated thatBrat "is probably the closest album to [her 2017 mixtape]Pop 2 in its ethos".[28] Its music has been described variously by journalists aselectropop,[29]synth-pop,[30]club-pop,[27]hyperpop,[31]electroclash,[32] anddance.[33] Charli XCX toldBillboard's Katie Bain thatBrat is produced from a tight collection of sounds to create "this unique minimalism that is very loud and bold".[26]The Face's Shaad D'Souza compared the album's sound to2000s-eraMinistry of Sound compilationsThe Annual andRihanna's 2010 albumLoud, calling the lyrics "shady and bratty, but tender and heartbreaking".[27]
Charli XCX has confirmed that track "Girl, So Confusing" explores her contentious relationship with a fellow female artist. Listeners speculated that the track was aboutMarina Diamandis,Rina Sawayama, or Lorde, the latter of whom the track was later confirmed to be written about.[21] Lorde then appeared on the song's remix version.[34] "Sympathy Is a Knife" alludes to another similar situation; the song has been speculated to be about her relationship withTaylor Swift, as well as Charli's perception of her relationship withthe 1975's lead singerMatty Healy.[35]
"Rewind" was written as a direct response to the success of "Speed Drive" fromBarbie the Album.[21] "Mean Girls", a song partially inspired by actress and modelJulia Fox as well as podcast hostDasha Nekrasova, focuses on society's "fascination with mean girls".[27]The Face called the track "So I" "a knotty exploration of her grief about [the death of]Sophie".[36][37][27] "Apple" was written with inspiration from the writing style of Charli XCX's close friend and collaboratorCaroline Polachek.[38] "I Think About It All the Time" sees Charli XCX contemplating motherhood after meeting her friend and collaboratorNoonie Bao's baby.[39][40] In an interview beforeBrat's release, she said: "am I less of a woman if I don't have a kid? Will I feel like I've missed out on my purpose in life? I know we're not supposed to say that, but it's this biological and social programming."
Brat's deluxe version adds three new songs. "Hello Goodbye" was described as "crush-addled".[41] On "Guess", Charli XCX challenges a subject to guess the colour of her underwear, which critics called "unapologetically flirty and suggestive".[42] "Spring Breakers" suggests that Charli XCX's edginess bars her from music industry events such as theGrammy Awards.[43]
Anticipating the release ofBrat, the cover art ofCharli XCX's discography was updated across streaming platforms to match its appearance. On 9 May 2025 (the day "Party 4 U" became a single), the original icon ofHow I'm Feeling Now returned to represent its fifth anniversary. The original covers for the remaining albums returned on 30 June 2025.
Brat's artwork and packaging was designed byNew York City-based studio Special Offer, Inc.[44] The cover is alime green square with the title in lowercase imposed inArial font. In a cover story interview forVogue Singapore, Charli told Chandreyee Ray that criticism led her to question why fans feel "ownership over female artists" so much so that they demand their photograph be on all their work; she had previously called it "misogynistic and boring" onTwitter. Of the album cover's colour—which is Pantone 3507C[45][46]—she said that she had noticed that the colour green was heavily oversaturated in the media and fashion, and added: "I wanted to go with an offensive, off-trend shade of green to trigger the idea of something being wrong. I'd like for us to question our expectations of pop culture—why are some things considered good and acceptable, and some things deemed bad? I'm interested in the narratives behind that and I want to provoke people. I'm not doing things to be nice".[47] Kristin Robinson ofBillboard claimed that Charli had been "inspired by a 1990s neon rave flyer and the title credits toGregg Araki's 2007 comedy,Smiley Face".[48]
Despite its simple appearance, the album cover's design underwent a five-month development process, maintaining a green square with text. Designer Brent David Freaney selected the colour after examining around 500 shades, aiming for an off-putting, garish effect.[49] The final shade resonated with Charli's vision of bold irreverence. The typography, based on Arial, was chosen for its non-"precious" feel. While considering various Swiss typefaces, Freaney wanted to surpassHelvetica. The text, slightly stretched to "give it a personality", is awkwardly placed to be neither small and tasteful nor large and loud, creating an opinion-less aesthetic.[50]
In the weeks leading up toBrat's release, a wall inGreenpoint, Brooklyn—which fans called the "brat wall"—was painted and repainted with the album's signature green color and various messages. Over the summer, its messages changed frequently in line with the album's promotion cycle. The first message was "i'm your fav reference"—a lyric from the single "360"—before it was repainted to read simply "brat". On 10 June, whenBrat's deluxe edition was released, the wall was changed to white with the message "brat and it's the same but there's three more songs so it's not". By the middle of June, the wall remained white but changed its message to "lorde", indicating Lorde's possible involvement with future releases pertaining toBrat, which soon appeared in the remix version of "Girl, So Confusing". The final message of theBrat wall—"ok bye!" in the album's signature green—was painted on 1 July.[51]
Timeline ofBrat's covers on streaming services
June 2024–April 2025, June 2025–present
April 2025
May 2025
June 2025
During her performance atCoachella 2025 in April 2025, Charli XCX projected a new version of the cover on screen with scribbles on the letters, which would be shown on streaming services and later modified with brown, metallic rust the next month. It has been linked to a possible announcement of the end to theBrat era.[52][53] On the album's first anniversary on 7 June 2025, the cover was once again changed similar to the original cover, only with the text reading "forever <3".[54] On 30 June, the cover was changed back to the original version.
According to the review aggregatorMetacritic,Brat received "universal acclaim" based on aweighted average score of 95 out of 100 from 24 critic scores.[55] The website's report reads, "Critics have embraced the album's rave-influenced sound that eliminates some of the accessibility (and guest stars) of prior albumCrash in favor of a rawer, grittier, and more sophisticated sound that is no less fun. Club classic, indeed".
Critics praised Charli XCX's emotional vulnerability and several declaredBrat to be one of her best albums,[65][62][66][67] with Laura Snapes ofThe Guardian calling it a masterpiece.[59] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine described the album as "bratty and brash" but "frequently vulnerable".[64] Brittany Spanos ofRolling Stone wrote thatBrat was a "hyperpop rollercoaster of post-Saturn return, early-thirties anxieties, and It-girl bravado".[31] Ben Tipple fromDIY saw the album as a manifestation of Charli XCX's rave roots, dubbing it "an unmistakable representation of her very core; an exhilarating ode to the multiple facets of club culture".[68]
Meaghan Garvey ofPitchfork lauded the album as "substantial in new ways for Charli" and gave it the distinction of Best New Music.[69]Pitchfork also recognized "Von Dutch" and the "Girl, So Confusing" remix as Best New Tracks upon their respective releases.[70][71] Writing forPaste, Eric Bennett praised the album and described it as "messy and vulnerable—in a way Charli's work has lacked over the last decade".[32][72] Bojana Jovanović ofVogue Adria characterized the album as "complex, quality and made smartly enough for people to search for a deeper meaning in it. Is this the most contemporary and the most complete pop album at the moment? Charli XCX certainly made an album that left a strong impression on many, and based on the critical reception, it will certainly leave a mark in the history of music".[73]PopMatters said "Brat is next-level Charli XCX, a miracle and an instant classic."[74]Anthony Fantano rated the album a 10 out of 10, labelling it as a record that proves that "Charli truly is a generational pop artist".[75]
At the end of 2024,Brat was featured on numerous high-profile publications' lists ranking the year's top albums. According to Metacritic, it had the highest ratings of 2024,[76] and as of October 2024, it ranked as the 15th-highest-rated album of all time on the website.[77]
In the United Kingdom,Brat debuted at number two (selling 27,234 units) on theUK Albums Chart, earning Charli her second top ten charting album and her biggest opening week sales in the country.[102] This sparked discussion among media outlets who notedTaylor Swift appeared to be forcing her most recent album,The Tortured Poets Department, to remain in the number one position by releasing a new, UK-only variant of the album in the same week thatBrat was released.[103][104] As of February 2025,Brat has sold over 300,000 units in the country earning it a platinum certification.[105] After releasing the remix albumBrat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, the album reached the top of the charts in UK, marking Charli XCX's second number one album in the UK afterCrash (2022).[106] In Australia,Brat debuted at number three on theARIA Charts.[107] It peaked at number one following the release ofBrat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, becoming her second consecutive number one album on the chart afterCrash.[108]
In the US,Brat debuted at number three on theBillboard 200 with 77,000album-equivalent units sold on its opening week, consisting of 40,000 pure album sales. With this feat, it became Charli's highest-charting album in the country. It also earned Charli her highest first week overall sales and her biggest streaming week ever with 46.72 million streams.[109] Following the release of the remix albumBrat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat, the album later returned to its number three peak on its nineteenth week, selling a further 105,000 equivalent units with 57,000 pure album sales, earning the album its biggest sales week on the chart.[110] The album also peaked at number one on theDance/Electronic Albums chart, becoming her second top-ten record project on the chart afterVroom Vroom (2016), while all of its tracks charted on theHot Dance/Electronic Songs.[111]
People's Sadie Bell linked the album cover with the nature of the album, which Charli XCX called "confrontational".[113] Dubbed the "Brat summer" trend, the style of album cover and the specific shade of green became aviral sensation after a "Brat generator" tool surfaced online[45] that allowed users to replicate the cover with their own custom text.[114] TheLondon Eye landmark was lit up in lime green on the day of the album's release.[115]National Geographic acknowledged the album and the "brat girl" persona in aBrat-themed article discussing rebellious female icons throughout history, includingCleopatra,Wu Zetian,Lucrezia Borgia,Georgiana Cavendish, andGeorge Sand.[116]
AfterJoe Biden decided towithdraw from the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the official Biden-Harris campaign profile renamed itself "Kamala HQ" and changed its banner picture in imitation of the album cover, replacing "brat" with "kamala hq".[123] This occurred after Charli XCX tweeted about Harris onX (formerly Twitter), saying "kamala IS brat".[124] Charli XCX later stated that although not meant as an explicit endorsement, she was "happy to help prevent democracy from failing forever".[4] MultipleTikTok videos have shown edits of songs from the album with footage of Harris in the background. Some analysts suggested the connection between the campaign and album would create enthusiasm among young voters.[125] OnReal Time with Bill Maher in October,Van Jones made reference to the album in a negative assessment of Harris' campaign, stating it had gone from "brat to flat".[126]
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