Spring Breakers (Charli XCX Song)

''Brat'' is the sixth studio album by English singer Charli XCX, released through Atlantic Records on 7 June 2024. It features production by Charli XCX, her longtime executive producer A. G. Cook, Finn Keane, Cirkut, her partner George Daniel, and others. The album draws influence from the 2000s English rave music scene, with a more aggressive club sound than her previous album, '' Crash'' (2022).

Commercially, ''Brat'' peaked at number one in the UK, Australia, and Ireland, and reached the top ten in 12 other countries, including the United States, where it marked Charli XCX's highest debut on the ''Billboard'' 200 (number three). A deluxe edition, ''Brat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not'', was released on 10 June 2024. A remix album, titled ''Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat'', featuring 20 guest artists, was released on 11 October 2024.

According to Metacritic, which compiles scores from music critics, ''Brat'' is the highest-rated album of 2024 and the 15th-highest-rated album of all time. The album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize for 2024 Album of the Year. The cover art and aesthetic became a popular Internet trend and was adopted by U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris's 2024 presidential campaign after Charli XCX tweeted about the candidate. ''Brat'' was nominated for nine Grammy Awards at the 67th annual ceremony, including Album of the Year, winning three of them. During 2024–2025, Charli XCX embarked on the Sweat tour with collaborator Troye Sivan, and the solo Brat Tour in support of the album.

Background and release

''Brat'' is Charli XCX's sixth studio album and first after renewing her contract with Atlantic Records in early 2023. It was announced on 28 February 2024, a day before the release of the lead single "Von Dutch". On 22 February, during her Boiler Room warehouse set, XCX debuted snippets of tracks identified as "Spring Breakers" and "365". She was joined onstage by Addison Rae and Julia Fox; a "Von Dutch" remix with Rae and A. G. Cook was released on 22 March. On 6 March, she premiered "So I" at the ''Billboard'' Women in Music event. "Club Classics" and "B2B" were released on 3 April as a two-pack promotional single.

After teasing the song for a few days, on 29 April, Charli announced the release of the next single, "360". It was released on 10 May alongside its music video, which was teased earlier that day, and was described by her as her "best music video ever". The video features multiple "it girls", including Gabbriette, Chloë Sevigny, Julia Fox, and Rachel Sennott. A remix of "360" soon followed, featuring Swedish artists Robyn and Yung Lean, which was released on 31 May. During her 1 June headlining set at Barcelona's Primavera Sound festival, she debuted two unreleased songs live, "365" and "Everything Is Romantic".

''Brat'' was released on 7 June 2024. A deluxe edition, titled ''Brat and It's the Same but There's Three More Songs So It's Not'', was released on 10 June, containing three additional songs. On 21 June, a remix version of "Girl, So Confusing" featuring New Zealand singer Lorde was released. On 1 August 2024, a remix version of "Guess" from the deluxe edition was released featuring singer Billie Eilish. The following day, "Apple" was released to Italian radio as the album's third single. On 12 September, a "Talk Talk" remix featuring Troye Sivan was released along with the announcement of a remix album titled ''Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat'' which was released on 11 October 2024.

Composition

''Brat'' channels the illegal London rave scene, where Charli XCX started performing as a teenager. She called it her "most aggressive and confrontational record", but also her most vulnerable. She also stated that ''Brat'' "is probably the closest album to er 2017 mixtape'' Pop 2'' in its ethos". Its music has been described variously by journalists as electropop, club-pop, hyperpop, electroclash, and dance. Charli XCX told ''Billboard''s Katie Bain that ''Brat'' is produced from a tight collection of sounds to create "this unique minimalism that is very loud and bold". '' The Face''s Shaad D'Souza compared the album's sound to 2000s-era Ministry of Sound compilations ''The Annual'' and Rihanna's 2010 album '' Loud'', calling the lyrics "shady and bratty, but tender and heartbreaking".

Charli XCX has confirmed that track "Girl, So Confusing" explores her contentious relationship with a fellow female artist. Listeners speculated that the track was about Marina Diamandis, Rina Sawayama, or Lorde, the latter of whom the track was later confirmed to be written about. Lorde then appeared on the song's remix version. "Sympathy Is a Knife" alludes to another similar situation; the song has been speculated to be about her relationship with Taylor Swift, as well as Charli's perception of her relationship with the 1975's lead singer Matty Healy.

"Rewind" was written as a direct response to the success of "Speed Drive" from ''Barbie the Album''. "Mean Girls", a song partially inspired by actress and model Julia Fox as well as podcast host Dasha Nekrasova, focuses on society's "fascination with mean girls". ''The Face'' called the track "So I" "a knotty exploration of her grief about he death ofSophie". "Apple" was written with inspiration from the writing style of Charli XCX's close friend and collaborator Caroline Polachek. "I Think About It All the Time" sees Charli XCX contemplating motherhood after meeting her friend and collaborator Noonie Bao's baby. In an interview before ''Brats release, she said: "am I less of a woman if I don't have a kid? Will I feel like I've missed out on my purpose in life? I know we're not supposed to say that, but it's this biological and social programming."

''Brats deluxe version adds three new songs. "Hello Goodbye" was described as "crush-addled". On "Guess", Charli XCX challenges a subject to guess the color of her underwear, which critics called "unapologetically flirty and suggestive". "Spring Breakers" suggests that Charli XCX's edginess bars her from music industry events such as the Grammy Awards.

Artwork and marketing

''Brat''s artwork and packaging was designed by New York City-based studio Special Offer, Inc. The cover is a lime green square with the title in lowercase imposed in Arial font. In a cover story interview for ''Vogue Singapore'', Charli told Chandreyee Ray that criticism led her to question why fans feel "ownership over female artists" so much so that they demand their photograph be on all their work; she had previously called it "misogynistic and boring" on Twitter. Of the album cover's colour—which is Pantone 3507C—she said that she had noticed that the colour green was heavily oversaturated in the media and fashion, and added: "I wanted to go with an offensive, off-trend shade of green to trigger the idea of something being wrong. I'd like for us to question our expectations of pop culture—why are some things considered good and acceptable, and some things deemed bad? I'm interested in the narratives behind that and I want to provoke people. I'm not doing things to be nice". Kristin Robinson of ''Billboard'' claimed that Charli had been "inspired by a 1990s neon rave flyer and the title credits to Gregg Araki's 2007 comedy, ''Smiley Face''".

Despite its simple appearance, the album cover's design underwent a five-month development process, maintaining a green square with text. Designer Brent David Freaney selected the colour after examining around 500 shades, aiming for an off-putting, garish effect. The final shade resonated with Charli's vision of bold irreverence. The typography, based on Arial, was chosen for its non-"precious" feel. While considering various Swiss typefaces, Freaney wanted to surpass Helvetica. The text, slightly stretched to "give it a personality", is awkwardly placed to be neither small and tasteful nor large and loud, creating an opinion-less aesthetic.

In the weeks leading up to ''Brat''s release, a wall in Greenpoint, Brooklyn—which fans called the "brat wall"—was painted and repainted with the album's signature green color and various messages. Over the summer, its messages changed frequently in line with the album's promotion cycle. The first message was "i'm your fav reference"—a lyric from the single "360"—before it was repainted to read simply "brat". On June 10, when ''Brat''s deluxe edition was released, the wall was changed to white with the message "brat and it's the same but there's three more songs so it's not". By the middle of June, the wall remained white but changed its message to "lorde", indicating Lorde's possible involvement with future releases pertaining to ''Brat'', which soon appeared in the remix version of "Girl, So Confusing". The final message of the ''Brat'' wall—"ok bye!" in the album's signature green—was painted on 1 July.

During her performance at Coachella 2025 in April 2025, Charli XCX projected a new version of the cover on screen with scribbles on the letters, which would be shown on streaming services and later modified with brown, metallic rust the next month. It has been linked to a possible announcement of the end to the ''Brat'' era. On the album's first anniversary on 7 June 2025, the cover was once again changed similar to the original cover, only with the text reading "forever <3".

Critical reception

The website's report reads, "Critics have embraced the album's rave-influenced sound that eliminates some of the accessibility (and guest stars) of prior album ''Crash'' in favor of a rawer, grittier, and more sophisticated sound that is no less fun. Club classic, indeed".

Critics praised Charli XCX's emotional vulnerability and several declared ''Brat'' to be one of her best albums, with Laura Snapes of ''The Guardian'' calling it a masterpiece. Sal Cinquemani of ''Slant Magazine'' described the album as "bratty and brash" but "frequently vulnerable". Brittany Spanos of ''Rolling Stone'' wrote that ''Brat'' was a "hyperpop rollercoaster of post-Saturn return, early-thirties anxieties, and It-girl bravado". Ben Tipple from '' DIY'' saw the album as a manifestation of Charli XCX's rave roots, dubbing it "an unmistakable representation of her very core; an exhilarating ode to the multiple facets of club culture".

Meaghan Garvey of ''Pitchfork'' lauded the album as "substantial in new ways for Charli" and gave it the distinction of Best New Music. ''Pitchfork'' also recognized "Von Dutch" and the "Girl, So Confusing" remix as Best New Tracks upon their respective releases. Writing for ''Paste'', Eric Bennett praised the album and described it as "messy and vulnerable—in a way Charli's work has lacked over the last decade". Bojana Jovanović of ''Vogue Adria'' characterized the album as "complex, quality and made smartly enough for people to search for a deeper meaning in it. Is this the most contemporary and the most complete pop album at the moment? Charli XCX certainly made an album that left a strong impression on many, and based on the critical reception, it will certainly leave a mark in the history of music". ''PopMatters'' said "''Brat'' is next-level Charli XCX, a miracle and an instant classic." Anthony Fantano rated the album a 10 out of 10, labelling it as a record that proves that "Charli truly is a generational pop artist".

Year-end rankings

At the end of 2024, ''Brat'' was featured on numerous high-profile publications' lists ranking the year's top albums. According to Metacritic, it had the highest ratings of 2024, and as of October 2024, it ranked as the 16th-highest-rated album of all time on the website.

Accolades

Commercial performance

In the United Kingdom, ''Brat'' debuted at number two (selling 27,234 units) on the UK Albums Chart, earning Charli her second top ten charting album and her biggest opening week sales in the country. This sparked controversy among media outlets who accused Taylor Swift of incessantly keeping the number one position in the UK by releasing a new version of her most recent album, ''The Tortured Poets Department'', available only in the UK, the same week that ''Brat'' was released. As of February 2025, ''Brat'' has sold over 300,000 units in the country earning it a platinum certification. After releasing the remix album ''Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat,'' the album reached the top of the charts in UK, marking Charli XCX's second number one album in the UK after ''Crash'' (2022). In Australia, ''Brat'' debuted at number three on the ARIA Charts. It peaked at number one following the release of ''Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat,'' becoming her second consecutive number one album on the chart after ''Crash''.

In the US, ''Brat'' debuted at number three on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units sold on its opening week, consisting of 40,000 pure album sales. With this feat, it became Charli's highest-charting album in the country. It also earned Charli her highest first week overall sales and her biggest streaming week ever with 46.72 million streams. Following the release of the remix album ''Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat,'' the album later returned to its number three peak on its nineteenth week, selling a further 105,000 equivalent units with 57,000 pure album sales, earning the album its biggest sales week on the chart. The album also peaked at number one on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart, becoming her second top-ten record project on the chart after ''Vroom Vroom'' (2016), while all of its tracks charted on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs.

Impact

''People''s Sadie Bell linked the album cover with the nature of the album, which Charli XCX called "confrontational". Dubbed the "''Brat'' summer" trend, the style of album cover and the specific shade of green became a viral sensation after a "''Brat'' generator" tool surfaced online that allowed users to replicate the cover with their own custom text. The London Eye landmark was lit up in lime green on the day of the album's release. ''National Geographic'' acknowledged the album and the "brat girl" persona in a ''Brat''-themed article discussing rebellious female icons throughout history, including Cleopatra, Wu Zetian, Lucrezia Borgia, Georgiana Cavendish, and George Sand.

On 31 October 2024, "brat" was named the word of the year by the ''Collins English Dictionary'', and on 11 December, ''Forbes'' named the "''Brat'' summer" as one of the biggest pop culture moments in 2024.

In political campaigning

As part of their 2024 United Kingdom general election campaign, the Green Party of England and Wales posted a replica of the album cover to social media that read "vote green" instead of "brat". Mayor of London Sadiq Khan received a mixed response when replicating the cover on his Instagram to promote the success of the Ultra Low Emission Zone scheme.

After Joe Biden decided to withdraw from the 2024 U.S. presidential election, the official Biden-Harris campaign profile renamed itself "Kamala HQ" and changed its banner picture in imitation of the album cover, replacing "brat" with "kamala hq". This occurred after Charli XCX tweeted about Harris on X (formerly Twitter), saying "kamala IS brat". Charli XCX later stated that although not meant as an explicit endorsement, she was "happy to help prevent democracy from failing forever". Multiple TikTok videos have shown edits of songs from the album with footage of Harris in the background. Some analysts suggested the connection between the campaign and album would create enthusiasm among young voters. On ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' in October, Van Jones made reference to the album in a negative assessment of Harris' campaign, stating it had gone from "brat to flat".

Track listing

Notes
* All tracks are stylized in sentence case.
* signifies an additional producer.
* signifies a vocal producer.
* "Talk Talk" (featuring Troye Sivan) features uncredited additional vocals from Dua Lipa.

Samples and interpolations
* "Spring Breakers" contains an interpolation of "Everytime" (2003), written by Britney Spears and Annet Artani, and performed by Spears.

Personnel

* Charli XCX – vocals, executive production, design, layout
* Randy Merrill – mastering
* Idania Valencia – mastering (tracks 1–5, 7–18)
* Manny Marroquin – mixing (tracks 1, 8)
* Tom Norris – mixing (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 10, 13)
* Bart Schoudel – mixing, vocal engineering (tracks 4, 12)
* Gesaffelstein – mixing (tracks 4, 12)
* Geoff Swan – mixing (tracks 7, 9, 11, 14–18)
* Cirkut – vocal engineering (tracks 1, 8)
* George Daniel – vocal engineering (tracks 2, 11)
* Jon Shave – vocal engineering (tracks 3, 9)
* Finn Keane – vocal engineering (tracks 3, 14)
* A. G. Cook – vocal engineering (tracks 5, 7, 10, 13, 14, 16), executive production
* Ashley Jacobson – vocal recording (track 6)
* Hudson Mohawke – vocal engineering (track 13)
* Matt Cahill – mixing assistance (tracks 7, 9, 11, 14–18)
* Darin Lewis – promotion, listener, approvals
* Special Offer – design, layout
* Imogene Strauss – design, layout

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Notes

References

{{Authority control

2024 albums
Charli XCX albums
Albums produced by A. G. Cook
Albums produced by Cirkut
Albums produced by Hudson Mohawke
Albums produced by Gesaffelstein
Albums produced by el Guincho
Albums produced by Linus Wiklund
Atlantic Records albums
Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronica Album
Internet memes introduced in 2024
Kamala Harris 2024 presidential campaign
Political Internet memes