How Charli XCX created the big Brat summer of 2024
In the last month, a mysterious trend has been spreading throughout London. You can hear it playing on someone's AirPods on the bus, or coming from a house party on a warm summer night. Social media is filled with bright green squares. Arial seems to be the favorite font. Pants are baggy, skirts are short. The big Brat summer is everywhere, but what does it actually mean?
Created by the genius known as Charli XCX, also known as Charlotte Aitchison, Brat is essentially just an album that was recorded in a studio like many others. It was released on June 7th, making it the sixth studio album from the artist who first gained recognition with her debut album True Romance in 2013. At its core, Brat consists of 15 songs, with a deluxe edition titled "Brat and it's the same but there’s three more songs so it's not" containing extra tracks.
The actual album cover for Charli XCX's Brat is in low resolution.
The songs are definitely hits that are made for dancing at clubs, including a track titled "Club Classics" where Charli emphasizes her love for traditional club music. These classic club tunes include her own songs, as she sings "Yeah, I want to dance to me." The lyrics explore the life of a 31-year-old who loves to party, while also sharing intimate details similar to an Instagram close friends post.
In terms of appearance, Brat has a trashy yet stylish look, similar to a fashionable outfit worn at the end of a wild night. In recent times, Charli has been seen in white tank tops and black tights (actual pants not necessary), oversized shirts with slogans, and sunglasses, or carrying purses onstage like PinkPantheress. Overall, it exudes a bold 2024 style with a hint of the early 2000s, as the y2k trend doesn't seem to be fading away anytime soon.
However, it's not just about the clothes, or the music, or even Charli herself. Brat has grown larger than Charli may have expected. It has transformed into a style, a way of thinking, a belief system. It even has the possibility to be a significant political instrument, as shown when Charli described US Presidential candidate Kamala Harris as "so brat" after her campaign launch this past weekend.
Similar to how Megan Thee Stallion perfectly represented the current cultural trend with her term "Hot Girl Summer" in 2019, Charli XCX has also managed to capture a specific moment with her latest project, Brat. How did she do it?
Charli XCX is joined by a group of popular and fashionable women in her latest music video "360".
"The timing is crucial," explains Marta Indeka, a senior analyst specializing in predicting future trends at The Future Laboratory. "Last year was all about celebrating girlhood with trends like Barbiecore and Taylor Swift's popular concerts. But now, we're witnessing a more subtle evolution of that trend."
Indeka discusses the growing popularity of “feral girl summer” as a new trend that emerged after the long reign of hot girl summer. This shift may have also led to the rise of the Brat era. According to Indeka, hot girl summer came with certain expectations, while Brat summer is more liberating and open to individual interpretation. This personalization is a key factor in its success.
And indeed, it's also a great example of effective marketing. Indeka explains, "The entire campaign is perfect for user-generated content and cultural acceptance. Using a unique color and font is a simple yet powerful marketing strategy...and the meme potential and viral nature of it is what truly caused it to become popular."
However, it is also truly genuine: Charli has been talking about her passion for creating music that makes people want to dance or that she would enjoy hearing in a nightclub in almost every interview she has done over the last five years. "It resonates because it is authentic," says Indeka, "otherwise it wouldn't be as relatable or memorable. It aligns perfectly with the current cultural trends."
This is the first time in a while that a piece of media focusing on clubs has become popular online. People have been talking for years about how there aren't as many popular dance songs like there were in the early 2000s, and Indeka recognized that there was a need for something new to fill that gap.
Also, it's important to note how quickly a song can become popular when one pop singer calls out another in their lyrics. For example, Charli XCX discusses her complicated relationship with Lorde in her song "Girl, So Confusing," only to have Lorde featured on the remix just two weeks later. Lorde doesn't just appear on the track, she also addresses the conflict directly with emotional and honest lyrics that are hard to summarize. Despite this, we still can't help but dance to the beat of these songs during this exciting summer season.
In the end, Brat is all about indulging in pleasure, which always seems to peak during the summer, especially now after Covid, and in the midst of an economic downturn.
However, it's not just about wearing oversized sunglasses and trendy t-shirts while lounging in the sun - it's about genuinely enjoying yourself, for your own satisfaction, not for others. According to Indeka, it's all about finding a happy medium between indulging in life's pleasures, going out and seeking authentic, unfiltered experiences, and balancing it with a wholesome lifestyle. So go ahead and make the most of your carefree summer.
