Brat summer is over but Charli xcx’s new version of the album came to show what it’s all about and keep the energy up, slightly different but still the same.
“Brat and it’s completely different but it’s not” is the British singer and pop culture icon’s newest release. The album is a collection of collaborations and remixes inspired by her critically acclaimed album Brat, released earlier this year, which dominated social media with its iconic green cover.
For me, this version of the album mixes the party girl energy with the after-the-club side of Brat, where the fun and sadness are still there but you’re left with reflections after distractions, analyzing the path your life is on and where you want to see yourself in the future.
According to Charli, the idea of a remix album was about showing the endless possibilities of working on songs by gathering elements to transform them into an unrecognizable track that can be reinterpreted but keeps the essence. The remixes include a variety of big names in the music industry from different genres, such as Julian Casablancas, Caroline Polachek, Bon Iver, Ariana Grande and Yung Lean.
The collabs we already know and absolutely love are “Von dutch a.g. cook remix featuring addison are”, “Girl, so confusing featuring lorde”, “Guess featuring billie eilish” and the latest one, with her Sweat Tour duo, T”alk talk featuring troye sivan”.
Now, here are the top 5 best (new) collabs of “Brat and it’s completely different but it’s not” in my opinion, of course.
Club Classics featuring Bb trickz
“Club classics” turned into one of the fans’ favorite features of the remix album since its release. The dynamic between the two brought out the club energy with an iconic verse sung in Spanish by Bb trickz which gave a perfect authentic twist to it. As said by trickz herself on the track “Bb xcx” really is an “automatic classic”.
The duo had the opportunity to work together after Bb trickz’s style and presence online which grabbed Charli’s attention as a good match for the “Club classics” collab.
‘365’ featuring Shygirl
This was one of the most anticipated tracks since Charli first teased it during her Boiler Room set in Ibiza back in July. The track leveled up the level of “365” with a contagious electronic beat and accelerated the BPM, making it even more perfect for the party girl energy.
Shygirl and Charli have been friends for a while now and the featured artist is one of the openers of Sweat Tour. Shy Girl has affirmed during an interview that the support and opportunities given to her by xcx have been “really lovely”.
‘Sympathy is knife’ featuring Ariana Grande
The pop stars were reunited to turn the original version into an even more impactful anthem for women who struggle with society’s judgements for simply being who they are. Ariana Grande was the perfect choice for the collaboration after a year of multiple controversies involving her name. “Sympathy is a knife” was a chance to respond to all of the allegations about her personal life in a brat way.
Charli recently revealed through an Instagram post that she and Ariana have been introduced to each other by the pop singer, Troye Sivan, who is a mutual friend of theirs, which influenced the idea of collaborating on the album.
‘Rewind’ featuring Bladee
This is a simple but effective kind of remix. The reimagining of “Rewind” maintained the originality of the track but spiced up its structure. Bladee’s verse with Charli’s POV is a vent about the pressure of being a musician and how sometimes they just want to go back to simpler times when they were not so stressed by the industry.
The Swedish rapper and Charli xcx have collaborated before in 2021 for Bladee’s single Drama. The British singer gave a hint of the comeback collab in 2023, and revealed during the first listening party of “Brat and it’s completely different but it’s not” that “Rewind” was the first remix ever recorded for this version of the album.
‘I might say something stupid’ featuring the 1975 & Jon Hopkins
The collab between Charli, Jon Hopkins and the pop band The 1975 is a break in the album for a melancholic and slow moment. Even though the lyrics are short, they communicate with depth the feelings of the main singer Matty Healy. The vocals of the song bring almost a sinking feeling, an instant of being lost in the headspace of your feelings.
Hopkins is a musician and producer who works majorly with dance and electronic music and has collaborated in the production and writing of the track, alongside George Daniel, the it girl’s partner and drummer of The 1975. Healy is a long-time friend of xcx and the lead singer of the featured band. Recently during an interview Charli described their relationship by saying that he is like a brother to her, admitting she has a lot of respect for him as a songwriter and a person but “I sometimes want to strangle him.”
An honorable mention is the brand new “Spring Breakers” remix featuring Kesha, released right after the album Brat and it’s completely different but it’s not as a bonus track, bringing the most iconic party girls of the music industry together.
Lastly, if you haven’t yet, I recommend you to check out the new album and have some fun with it!
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This article was edited by Malu Panico.
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