The first time I listened to Brat by Charli xcx, I was in Italy, at a villa in Tuscany. This isn’t to brag, but simply to set the scene, to explain why my favorite songs off Brat are my favorite.
Picture it. Rolling green hills as far as the eye can see. Old stone buildings that have lasted for centuries. Olive trees surrounding the property. Romance was in the air. So, when Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat was announced, I was ecstatic. I wanted to see how my favorite songs would change and mold around the feature artists. “Von dutch” featuring Addison Rae was already so iconic, and I was expecting even more memorable moments. And I was not disappointed.
Before I get into the specifics of my review, I wanted to set some ground rules. I do not feel comfortable ranking “So I,” so it will be at the bottom, but just remember it is unranked and unrated. The rest of this review will be structured by my current my ranking without the new songs. For example, my favorite song is “everything is romantic.” So, the first song I review will be “everything is romantic” featuring Caroline Polachek. Not only are you getting a remix review, you are getting my ranking for the original Brat.
Yay! Ok, let’s begin.
“everything is romantic featuring caroline polachek” β 4.8/5
“Late nights in black silk in East London.” If the original Brat album was a summer album, this set of remixes make it a fall album.
Caroline Polachek has this amazing ability to make any song she’s on sound ethereal. Her vocal flips in the this song combine with the autotune of Charli’s voice to create a cacophony of noise that somehow works perfectly.
The only reason I would knock off points is because the song feels less romantic and more anxious now. I wish they had stuck to the original theme of the song, escapism to a romantic place so vivid you can picture it.
“sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande” β 4.5/5
As much as I would have loved to hear Ariana Grande sing the original chorus of this song, I do like the remix. The lyrics are really on point. I think it’s less relatable to the masses (because I couldn’t even be her if I tried) and more about reflecting on fame, which is something less people can relate to. Overall, I think it’s a solid remix and Ariana surprisingly fits well with the autotune sound Charli favors.
“talk talk featuring troye sivan” β 5/5
I love Troye Sivan. Charli and Troye together on tour is the perfect combination to create a really fun experience. I feel like this song captures that energy for all the people who didn’t get to see the tour (me included). I love the fact that Dua Lipa randomly talks in French and Spanish on the track, I feel like it’s so fun. This is one of the few songs where I would say the original and the remix are tied for which I like more.
“B2b featuring tinashe” β 3/5
This remix is good. I don’t think Tinashe really adds anything that impactful. It’s not bad but it’s not my favorite. I like the part near the one minute mark where Charli has a really nice flow, it adds something nice to the remix, but I don’t like how when the part ends, the track goes quiet and it’s just Tinashe singing over a small beat. Something I appreciated about the original was how chaotic it got at some points, and the switch ups in the beat, which I don’t think translated well to the remix.
“365 featuring shygirl” β 5/5
The opening to this song is insane. I love it. The worst part of this song is how short it is. This song is, to me, the epitome of what a remix should be. Shygirl’s verse fits seamlessly into the song and the beat goes crazy. It doesn’t change the theme or the meaning of the song, it just takes it in a new direction, and I have no notes.
“Guess featuring Billie Eilish” β 4/5
This one is interesting because the song itself doesn’t really change much, the only addition is Billie singing on the track. And I love the original so much. I think Billie’s verse is good but I don’t think it fits as well into the song as some of the other artists do. I do like at the end when they alternate saying, “guess.” The outro sounds good with Billie’s addition, but something about the verse doesn’t hit for me. I gave it the rating I did because the song itself is really good and isn’t brought down that much by Billie.
“i think about it all the time featuring bon iver” β 4.7/5
I was scared for this one. I felt like this one might hurt. I like that this song is able to reflect on where she was when she wrote the song, and how the state of these feelings are now. The feelings are still there but stronger than ever, and the fear of running out of time is pervasive. The new beat fits really well on the song, and Bon Iver adds a nice contrast to Charli’s vocals. I was right, this one hurt.
“Von dutch a.g. cook remix featuring addison rae” β 5/5
This was the first version of this song I ever heard. As a longtime fan of Addison Rae’s music, this collab was very exciting for me. The remix is better than the original. It takes what worked well on the original and made it so much better. The iconic scream is from this song, and the drop is insane. If we were ranking the remixes, this one would be up there for me. At least top three.
“club classics featuring bb trickz” β 4.6/5
This song is different in such a good way. It’s basically another 365 remix which I’m all good with because that song is so good. I have no idea what Bb trickz is saying but it sounds perfect and fits seamlessly into the song. The only reason it isn’t a perfect score is because the original “club classics” is not a five for me, and I feel like though I like this remix, it still isn’t my favorite.
“girl, so confusing featuring lorde” β 5/5
The potential of this song was fully realized with the Lorde addition. Her verse is iconic. This remix is such an improvement on the original. No notes!
“i might say something stupid featuring the 1975 & jon hopkins” β 5/5
The piano, the atmosphere, the lyrics. So beautiful. This remix definitely focuses on the instrumentals. It’s so different from anything else on the album that it’s almost startling in its intensity. It slowly builds you up and doesn’t let go until you hear the opening notes of the next track that kicks you out of your stupor. I liked the original, but I love this remix.
“360 featuring robyn & yung lean” β 4.3/5
My favorite part of this remix was Yung Lean. The flow hits. The “supersonic” is so catchy. I like how each artist is able to make their own contribution and sing lyrics from their perspective. It makes the remixes more fun. This is one of the remixes that I view as totally separate from the original, but I like it. In this case, it somehow works.
“apple featuring the japanese house” β 4.2/5
I have kind of been slightly apple’d out because of the TikTok trend. I have heard that one specific part of the song so many times. But this remix doesn’t have that part! So I was able to get over that slight annoyance and really enjoy this song. The new additions to the instrumentals really add a vibe that matches the featured artist so well. I like how the song is able to change and grow to match the feature artists, instead of forcing them into a sound that is unnatural for them.
“spring breakers featuring kesha” β 3.2/5
Kesha was so perfect on this song. The music itself isn’t really changed much, but the Kesha addition is iconic. However, it wasn’t my favorite entirely. I can appreciate it for what it is, two Kesha verses on the same song, but I don’t think it’s one of the remixes I will be returning to that often.
“rewind featuring bladee” β 3.1/5
Unfortunately, this song on the original album was pretty forgettable for me. And this remix didn’t fix that. Bladee felt out of sync with the rest of the song. The best part was the outro with the new addition to the beat and the lyrics. It was really cool, and I wish more of the song sounded like that. Otherwise, this song was not my favorite.
“mean girls featuring julian casablancas” β 2/5
Before you think about the fact that this song is ranked last for me, think about this. I like every song on Brat. I don’t love every song, but I like every song. It’s just personal preference, but I really think there is no bad song on this album.
I just don’t love the piano combined with the dance/club vibes. It’s just kind of off-putting to me. I still think the original song is better than this remix. It’s so chaotic and not necessarily in a good way. The bridge carries this song. It’s an interesting moment in the song that I actually do really like. I do not like the chorus, the verses are forgettable, the piano gets tiring. This is my least favorite on the album.
“So I featuring a.g. cook”
This song is really sweet β “Now I wanna think about all the good times.” The lyrics paint such a vivid picture and really invite you into these memories.
Overall, the remix album had more highs than lows, and, though I didn’t necessarily love every song, there were some that were just so good that it made listening to my least favorite parts of the album worth it. The average score was 4.2/5, which is pretty good for a remix album.