The weather may be rapidly cooling, but it’s still spiritually brat summer: Today, Charli XCX released her latest brat variant, a remix album elegantly titled brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
Ever since Charli and Lorde worked it out this summer—and sent the internet into a (predicted) tizzy—we’ve been waiting with bated breath for the rest of the album, and over the last few months, Charli’s teased fans with spots from Billie Eilish, Robyn, Yung Lean, Addison Rae, Troye Sivan, and (kind of) Dua Lipa. Don’t get it twisted, though—the brat remix is far from a traditional reissue. Though she maintains the DNA of each of her original songs, Charli has completely reimagined her hit album. Teeming with high-profile features from the likes of Ariana Grande, the 1975, Tinashe, Caroline Polachek, and Bon Iver, Charli’s latest venture was not only a way to flex her Rolodex, but also a way to spotlight artists she’s worked with since the early days of her career.
Needless to say, we’ve all been bumpin’ that (album, obviously) around the Vogue office—and with so many brand-new bops comes natural disagreement about what song is best. So here, Vogue’s biggest brats make the case for their favorite track on Charli xcx’s brat and it’s completely different but also still brat.
“360” feat. Robyn and Yung Lean
The Yung Lean, Robyn, and Charli xcx collaboration is my Roman Empire: Taking us to the clubs of Sweden, YL and Robyn rap bragadociously about their place in pop history. Shout-out to Yung Lean’s line “Mayor of my town, David Beckham in the nouhgties,” because, yes. —Maya Layne
“Club classics” feat. Bb trickz
The first time I heard the original “Club Classic” I was like, It’s too bright out and I’m too sober to be listening to this through my headphones at my desk at work. The remix, with a feature from the Spanish rapper Bb trickz, goes harder and warp-ier, enveloping you in a more aqueous kind of sound that somehow manages to bring about the opposite effect. You want to listen to it through your headphones so the sounds can flow directly through your body, can make it move involuntarily, can give you the elusive no thoughts, head empty lifestyle, except your head isn’t empty…it’s just bumpin’ that. —Laia Garcia-Furtado
“Sympathy is a knife” feat. Ariana Grande
It’s been an absolute joy to listen to these remixes with my coworkers—all of whom are journalists who would never misquote something. As somebody who frequently gets trapped in their own head, I related to “Sympathy is a knife” on the OG brat album, and adding Ariana Grande to the remix is just pure artistry. In what feels more like a lyrical diary entry than anything else, Grande adds her own spin to the song by addressing topics we have seen play out in her comments section over and over. It’s a reminder that women—whether they are pop stars like Charli and Ariana or nobodies like me—all feel the pressure, judgement, and misapprehension of society. But in the words of Ari, “It’s a knife when they won’t believe you, why should you explain?” —Margaux Anbouba
“I might say something stupid” feat. the 1975 Jon Hopkins
A pretty-but-sorta-minor synth ballad on brat becomes a mega chamber-pop journey with none other than Matty Healy cosplaying Bon Iver. The outro is a big, grand, goddamn heartstopper—Sigur Ros mixed up with The Shins mixed up with Jamie XX. I love it. —Taylor Antrim
“Talk talk” feat. Troye Sivan
On “Talk talk,” Troye Sivan lays out a simple, sexy plan including a flight to Amsterdam, a hotel room, and you can guess the rest. The tune, perfectly crafted for a night out with the girls and the dolls, also features Dua Lipa talking in not one but two languages. “Talk Talk” is everything that makes brat-core so damn good - provocative, playful, and punchy. —ML
“Von dutch” feat. Addison Rae
What’s better than one pop star? Two pop stars. It was the scream that broke the internet, and only took one take to skyrocket Addison Rae from a TikToker who had an EP into a full-fledged, next-generation pop girlie. The “Von Dutch” remix is the perfect dance-pop club classic you want to hear on a night out. —Irene Kim
“Everything is romantic” feat. Caroline Polachek
The best word I can find to describe this song is “tumblr.” What’s been so fun about the brat rollout is seeing so many of these niche corners of internet culture take over the mainstream. Charli and Caroline Polachek, who features in this remix, are arguably deep-cut artists—or at least they were until brat. Yet this song is the shining example of two creatives fiercely committed to just doing themselves, and the magic that can happen when people on the same wavelength intersect. The lyric “Late nights in black silk in East London / Church bells in the distance / free bleeding in the autumn rain” would’ve certainly done numbers on tumblr—and it’s gone triple platinum in my bedroom—but “Everything is romantic” was already a standout in the original album, and this remix simply takes it to the next level. You could say it made me fall in love with it again and again and again. —José Criales-Unzueta
“Rewind” feat. Bladee
While I generally don’t want to hear a guy on a Charli track unless it’s Troye, I’ve been a massive fan of Bladee since his first mixtape came out in 2014 (thank you, my musically intense and somewhat mansplain-y college guy friends, for getting me into Drain Gang!). This remix is energetic while still being chill, which makes it the perfect song to hop off the dance floor and get a drink to at the club. (I’m 31, okay? If I’m going out-out for the night, frequent beverage breaks and probably comfortable shoes are going to be involved.) —Emma Specter
“So i” feat. A.G. Cook
If the goal of Charli’s remix album was to create something “completely different” but “still brat,” I don’t think any song captures that paradox more perfectly than “So i.” Inspired by Charli’s collaborator, the late, great SOPHIE, the original served as one of the most devastatingly beautiful songs she’s ever written: a tribute to SOPHIE’s maverick talents and “lightning strike” charisma, laced with the regret and guilt Charli feels for not always making the most of their friendship while she was still alive. Enlisting A.G. Cook for the remix—also a close collaborator of SOPHIE’s, and the co-executive producer of brat—Charli explores the other side of that coin, freestyling lyrical snippets of the happy memories they shared over raucous synths that recall SOPHIE’s production in all its squelchy, sinuous glory. “Now I wanna think about all the good times,” she sings, and it’s impossible not to feel that bittersweet euphoria too. —Liam Hess
“Girl, so confusing” feat. Lorde
Hhonestly, I was speechless when I woke up to Lorde’s “Girl, so confusing” verse that one summer morning. I don’t think I can point out any better pop writing in this decade. This is Lorde at her sharpest, most eloquent, and certainly most tantalizing. It’s also Charli in top form, as the pop architect she’s been behind the scenes since long before brat. What makes this remix such a massive cultural moment—trust me when I say I have never experienced anything like scream-singing “you walk like a bitch” at the Sweat Tour’s sold-out Madison Square Garden stop with everyone else—is that we didn’t only experience two pop titans actually work it out on the remix, but we were also effectively sold pop brilliance. It’s the combination of the earnestness in the verse and conversation (“I was so lost in my head / And scared to be in your pictures”) together with the knowing wink at the potential for virality (“And when we put this to bed / The internet will go crazy”) that makes this as good as pop gets in the internet era. It’s also what makes this the standout remix in the brat era: “Girl, so confusing” encapsulates both the inward-looking intimacy and the explosive, often fabricated confidence of the persona behind this record, all while offering a masterclass in pop marketing. —JCU
“Apple” feat. the Japanese House
How do you take “Apple,” one of the biggest songs of the year (thanks to those viral TikTok dances!) and make it feel like a whole new track? That’s precisely what Charli and The Japanese House did on the pop star’s glorious new remix album. Infusing the dance hit with a more chill, indie, mid-tempo sound, the pair teamed up to give an entirely new feel to the lyrics, which revolve around themes of healing and overcoming self-destructive behavior. “I keep trying not think about you,” The Japanese House sings, “but I seem to think about you all of the time.” Consider it an instant addition to the playlist you enjoy crying to. —Christian Allaire
“B2b” feat. Tinashe
This is a fun one. Where the original “b2b” was throbbing and clubby but kind of sad—about being driven slightly mad trying not to return, perhaps for the second or third time, to a sticky, tricky situationship—the remix, featuring Tinashe, takes a different tack entirely. Now, instead of spiraling on the dance floor (“I don’t wanna fall right back to us, maybe you should run right back to her, I don’t wanna go back, back to, back to, back to…” Charli frets on brat), the vibe is “no sleep, bus, club, another club, another club”-era Lady Gaga. It’s the travel and gigs and appearances that are back-to-back, not the break-ups and reconciliations with some toxic dweeb—and while, yes, all that can feel a little hectic, it also means that the hard work is working. “I’m fucking tired but I love it and I’m not complaining,” Charli sings. “Oh shit, I kinda made it.” Adds Tinashe—who also knows a thing or two about finding viral success a solid decade into her singing career—“Look at me now, better than before...didn’t come out of nowhere.” Now that things are gelling, the girls aren’t slowing down—they’re going full-tilt. —Marley Marius
“Mean girls” feat. Julian Casablancas
As an “elder Millennial,” I of course have a deep love for Julian Casablancas. When I heard that he would be on the remix album, I felt like Charli was speaking directly to me, offering me a gift. When I saw that he was on “Mean girls,” I worried. “Mean girls” is the one brat song that was truly not made for me. (The lyrics made me cringe, I’m sorry!) As soon as I hit play on this song, all my worries drifted away; first of all, not Julian bringing in a dose of Yes’s “Owner of a Lonely Heart”? (Is prog rock brat? Apparently the answer is… yes.) Secondly, the offending lyrics are nowhere to be found, replaced instead by Julian’s sweet croon and some absolutely joyous piano melodies. “I gave you everything/too much / it’s true / then I took it all away,” he sings. And even if he was singing directly to me, I would still love him forever. Brat Autumn is official. —LGF
“I think about it all the time” feat. Bon Iver
It only makes sense that Justin Vernon, the king of introspection, would feature on brat’s most existential track. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how Bon Iver would fit into a song about reckoning with one’s biological clock, but lo, the collaboration turned out to be everything I didn’t know I needed. Charli tones down most of the baby references (save for a direct birth control mention), making the song more broadly ontological—and right in Vernon’s wheelhouse. Fans of Bon Iver’s oeuvre will also recognize the “I Can’t Make You Love Me/Nick of Time,” interpolation, which served as the perfect bridge between the two artists. (Over a cool, downtempo beat, Vernon and Charli sing the familiar “I found love / Love in the nick of time.”) While Vernon has spent the last few projects playing with formal experimentation, “I think about it all the time” feels like a harmonious middle ground between his early acoustic tearjerkers and his recent synthy work. For Charli, it’s a raw, honest showcase for both her songwriting and vocals. —Hannah Jackson
“365” feat. Shygirl
Dial 999, it’s a good time! The original closer on brat was already a certifiable bop, but this addition from Shygirl makes “365” a banger so unquantifiably fun that I’m almost scared to hear it in the wild, for fear that I’ll go truly feral. Revamped with a dialed-up, headbanging beat and a flirty guest verse you simply never stood a chance against being anything but a 365 party girl. —HJ
“Guess” feat. Billie Eilish
Okay, Miss Billie!!!!!!! While I genuinely respect Eilish not wanting to discuss her sexuality or who she’s dating more than she already has since coming out publicly last year, I have to admit I am also addicted to this extremely sapphic bop. I did not think my 2024 would include becoming emotionally cathected onto the sight of Billie Eilish driving a construction vehicle while singing “Charli likes boys but she knows I’d hit it…,” but there are gay miracles everywhere for those with the eyes to see. —ES
