Taken from @charli_xcx Instagram
Reinventing the Wheel
After just 24 hours after dropping her incredible sixth studio album, hyperpop icon Charli XCX released Brat and It’s the Same but There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not. As the tongue-in-cheek title suggests, this release comes with three more songs that live up to the pop perfection that is Brat—which is no easy task.
Brat overflows with energy and prose, perfectly paced and expertly crafted. It so seamlessly manages the impossible, balancing party and profound in equal parts. In essence, Brat seemed untouchable. This re-release proves otherwise, in some ways recontextualizing the album as a whole.
Crying in the Club
The three new tracks, “Hello goodbye,” “Guess” and “Spring Breakers” end the album on an even bigger bang than “365.” They bring the album back to the hardcore party attitude of its intense opening, surpassing that intensity with each new song. By the tail-end of the original Brat, Charli has laid her darkest thoughts bare. It’s raw, with tracks like “B2b” and “Mean Girls” bringing back the energy but still festering with an undeniable discomfort and jealousy beneath it all. These three new tracks, however, are purely made to dance.
Incredible production from masterminds like A.G. Cook, The Dare and Dylan Brady give each track an incredible punch. The re-release ends on the explosive “Spring Breakers,” one of the most anticipated releases of Charli’s fanbase. Buried in the interweaving metallic clangs and borderline alien synth loops are references to Charli’s own “Vroom Vroom” and “Boom Clap.” Paying homage to some of the icon’s biggest songs brings the album full circle—in a complete 360. The hype ingrained in these new tracks kicks off a repeating cycle of music and partying as a distraction. With its irresistible and genius beats masking insecurity, Brat and It’s the Same but There’s Three More Songs So It’s Not embodies the very thing it is about. But there’s no real distracting from the heartache at the core of Brat.
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