Have you heard of it? Brat summer.
This is according to British pop star Charli XCX, who recently released her sixth studio album. Brat — and her rabid fans, who call themselves “angels.”
Have you heard of the neon green trend? Baby T-shirts? Sporty sunglasses around town? Brat summer.
After the Angels adopted the following term: Brat Following the album’s release on June 7, the 31-year-old “Boom Clap” singer revealed what he meant in an interview. BBC Sounds Podcast.
“It can be that way, like luxury,” Charlie said, responding to a question about whether recent photos of the star riding a speedboat constituted part of the trend, “but it can also be very vulgar, like a pack of cigarettes, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra.”
On TikTok, fans have been sifting through the lyrics of the new album, Brat Summer: digital camera, cropped t-shirts, anything that exudes a coquette vibe.
But perhaps the most fundamental exterior of Brat Summer is an iconic neon green hue, and Charli chose the color as the background for her album cover in a controversial move earlier this summer. After receiving criticism online when she revealed the album artwork, Charli responded by questioning why fans feel so “ownership over female artists” that they expect their likenesses to appear on album covers.
In addition to accessories reminiscent of Y2K and indie sleaze fashion trends, Brat Summer is a state of mind: being the “it” girl and doing it effortlessly all the while.
In the music video for the alternative pop star’s breakout single “360,” BratFor her video, she enlisted the help of several It girls, past and present, including Chloe Sevigny, Julia Fox, Gabriette Bechtel, Rachel Sennott, Chloe Cherry, and Richie Shazam. The video also features Emma Chamberlain, the internet star and queen of messy hair and oversized sweatshirts, who has interviewed the stars three times as a red carpet correspondent at the Met Gala.
Charli herself has embodied a natural It-girl persona throughout the album’s campaign: During a show in Los Angeles to promote the album, the star told the audience mid-song, “I don’t want to sing this song. I just want you to sing this song while I’m having a glass of wine, OK?”
Even the album cover, with the name spelled out in a fuzzy, basic font against a simple green background, gives the impression that Charlie doesn’t take anything too seriously and is disinterested in the record promotion cycle. And neither should you.
but Brat Summer is also defined by another key aspect: unapologetically mean. She called the album her “most aggressive, confrontational record,” saying in an interview: faceCharlie isn’t afraid to speak up about people who make him feel insecure.
“I think I can be mean, but I don’t know if I’m mean,” the singer said. Las Culturistas Speaking on a podcast earlier in June, she said: “I don’t think just because I disagree with all women makes me a bad feminist. That’s not human nature.”
In “Mean Girls,” Charli glorifies minor bad behavior, like breaking her boyfriend’s feelings and using her “sharp tongue.” “I miss the days when pop music was really wobbly and crazy,” she said. face“I miss the days of Paris Hilton. Nowadays, people worry too much about what others think of them, whether their art will offend anyone, and everything.”
In “Sympathy is a Knife,” she laments that she “doesn’t want to share the same space with this girl” because “she makes me feel insecure.” She then adds, “I don’t want to see her backstage at her boyfriend’s show/Praying behind my back/I hope they break up soon.” (Some have speculated that the song could be about former touring buddy Taylor Swift or actress Chloe Bennet, both of whom have been linked to men in Charlie’s fiancé George Daniel’s band, The 1975.)
but Brat Summer is also bound to bring about some unnecessary feud resolution, like when Charlie and Lorde released the much talked about remix of “Girl, I’m So Confused.” Prior to the release of the new version of the song, fans were Brat The song expresses Charlie’s frustration that his friend won’t follow through on plans to collaborate on music and spend time together, and is all about Lorde, as the lyric mentions that the two have “the same hair”.
But the two “got on the remix,” and Lorde admits she was blown away by the British artist but always respected him as an artist. (The “Royals” singer declares at the end of the lyric, “I run for you, Charlie.”)
Bring on the neon green and a few shades. Brat summer.