Charli XCX: “Brat” remixes by Lorde and Billie Eilish

“Brat” remixes

The album, the summer, the hits, it continues!

The English singer Charli XCX delivered the album of the year with “Brat”. Now Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish are giving her remixes – and she should also perform for Kamala Harris.

Published today at 5:07 p.m

New remixes, but still the frenetic power of Charli XCX – here at a concert in Mexico City 2022.

Photo: AP

Subscribe now and benefit from the read-aloud function.

BotTalk

Wow, what kind of sound is that?

There are millions of joggers and spinning instructors who breathe a sigh of relief together: “Brat”, the album, the summer, the hits, it continues! With a sequel in the form of remixes; (almost) all tracks from the blockbuster album by English musician Charli XCX in freshly painted versions. party classic, but I’m still banging.

This needs to be explained briefly: Charli XCX’s actual name is Charlotte Aitchison, she is 32 years old and has been making original, if not always accessible, pop music for a long time. With “Brat” by Charlie XCX Everything exploded this year – hard-to-dance tracks full of female introspection and self-doubt. club music in pop format; It sounded as if the machines were beside themselves.

The songs from Charli XCX’s album “Brat” are playing pretty much everywhere this summer.

Photo: PD

This year, Charli XCX even became a household name among Gen Z parents because of her short after the nomination of Kamala Harris as the Democratic presidential candidate on X the post “kamala IS brat” dropped off. Since then, people have believed in “365” in every bar and every club and tried to explain to hundreds of thousands of boyfriends why they can’t do much with these frenetic songs.

The answer is simple, they are not “Brat”, and “Brat” simply means to forcefully define carefreeness for yourself, or maybe it means something else, anyway: the album was everywhere, and the commercial success eventually covered up, how reflective and contradictory it was.

Here you will find additional external content. If you agree that cookies are set by external providers and personal data is thereby transmitted to external providers, you can allow all cookies and display external content directly.

“Brat” became a self-fulfilling prophecy: a not-yet-quite-famous musician who actually became a star by questioning herself as to whether she had what it took to be a star. Charli

She is already in the political spotlight. Kamala Harris’ team has just announced a concert with a “surprise guest” for the week before the presidential election. Social media posts sport the same lime green color as the “Brat” album cover. Poll worker Charli XCX, who as an Englishwoman cannot vote at all?

“Brat” gets remixes from Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish

Until we can answer that, the remix album “Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat” has been out for about a week. The ultra-sharply resolved sounds of “Brat”, fresh yet ecstatic, are alienated, accelerated, taken apart or mixed together by Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish and Caroline Polachek. A celebration of collaboration.

Let’s say: Most of the time, there are also a few system crashes. The fact that Julian Casablancas (of The Strokes) of all people had to smear the night anthem “Mean Girls” with lots of effects – please. Much cooler is Ariana Grande, she meets Charli

Of course, this has little to do with the reality of life for many fans. Charli That’s different from the existential chaos of those who can’t pay their bills at the end of the month.

But the Charli XCX phenomenon can be better understood as a Möbius strip – the wish can become reality, depending on how you spin it. Healthy self-confidence helps: “I want to dance to me” she sings on “Club Classics”; They will dance to their own hits.

The remix album gets really meta with the version of “Girl, So Confusing”. On the original, Charli analyzes the frenemy relationship with an unnamed other singer with typically precise lyrics. It is never clear whether they want to do good or harm to each other. Does the artist want the other artist to be successful?

Pop singer Lorde responds to Charli XCX on the “Girl, So Confusing” remix.

Photo: Keystone

Now the New Zealander Lorde, with whom Charli had already been confused, answers and adds her own verse to the first verse. It’s a touching discussion between women, teamwork at the highest pop level: the original announced the hit, the remix delivers it.

And when Billie Eilish sings on “Guess” in a good-humored bedroom voice about how she would like to pull the British star’s panties aside, you can’t do it anymore anyway.

“Guess” starts with a groan and ends with a laugh. And after the remixes on “Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat” the entire original album follows again on Spotify & Co. Is this a clever comment on the constant listening provided by streaming services, or does Charli XCX simply make a few pence more?

Somehow both. Or as the Englishwoman herself said on “Von Dutch” a long time ago: “I’m your number one.”

Pascal Blum studied sociology and history and has been a cultural editor since 2014. He mainly reports on films and series and has written a book chapter about Heidi in the film. More info

Found an error? Report now.