Yes, that’s the legit album cover.
And it’s reflective of the amount of effort that seems to have gone into the album as a whole. But let’s start at the beginning.
Charli XCX is a pop artist who has been releasing albums since the late aughts (her first dropped in 2008). Specifically, her music falls mostly in the Electropop space, but is also regularly categorized in the Dance-, Hyper-, and Experimental-Pop subgenres. Brat specifically leans into the Electro/Dance space as rave music, as that’s where she really got her start — playing London’s rave scene (which, apparently, is or was illegal).
Brat is her seventh full-length album, and is the second one that I’ve reviewed.1
And I’ve really learned my lesson on this one: one decent album does not a good artist make.
Look, if you need something to play at a rave, then maybe this album has some good stuff for you. Maybe.
But there is no technicality. No depth. No strong lyricism, nor melodicism.
This album consists purely of autotune and high tempo and I guess some synths. I was wincing, but still somewhat hopeful for something worthwhile, through the first half of the album. Then, track seven hit: “Everything is Romantic”. The last half of this three minute “song” is one line being repeated — not melodically, not passionately (as the name might imply). Just one line at high tempo with no melody to back it.
Thirty-seven times.
I counted.
Nothing after that point redeems the album. Not even remotely. There are no tracks on this album that I am holding onto for any playlists, anywhere.
And, as a bonus: in preparation for this review, I saw that apparently one track, “Sympathy is a Knife”, is about Taylor Swift (and, specifically, her short-lived relationship with Matty Healy of The 1975). There is a line in the song which states “Don’t wanna see her backstage at my boyfriend’s show”; her boyfriend at the time — now fiancee — is The 1975’s drummer, George Daniel.
And as much as I have plenty to say about Matty Healy and him not being good for anybody, least of all Taylor Swift — this song just seems to illustrate shitty and selfish state of mind.
Finally, I would like to point out that the low effort 4th-grader-using-powerpoint album cover style has been retroactively applied to all of Charli’s older discography. Because her producers apparently thought it was unique or something.
I’m not even going to bother with pasting in any songs here. I respect you all too much.
Rating: Red
Well I can generate my brat cover with any kind of customization for text or background through the Brat Generator at bratgeneratorz.com