By Jacob Goldstein
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, “Brat Summer” is a term coined by the internet, derived from the smash-hit Brat album produced by Charli XCX, an innovative, half-desi, singer, songwriter, and producer. Described by USA Today as “an embrace of a hot-mess pop star aesthetic, prioritising club culture at its core,” Brat Summer is essentially playing with the very relatable idea of ‘fun and dirty’ according to ’80s and ’90s experiences, mixed with Millennials’ and Gen-Z’s ideals in 2024.
For the chronically online, we can see it’s a massive movement since the 2023 “clean girl” aesthetic. Remember when being a clean girl meant Stanley’s, slicked back hair, Lululemon, and an absurdly well-organized life?—preferably with a dotted $50 notebook and 30 minutes a day of gratitude and meditation? It was a game played by wealthy white women, and for the rest of us (as much as we try, spend money, and convince ourselves), being a clean girl was simply unattainable due to the demanding work-school life most of us lead.
Brat would be the complete antithesis of that. Clean girls like their makeup subtle, with glowing skin; Brats like their edgy, freshly smeared, chunky black eyeliner. Where an organic matcha latte in a biodegradable cup may have been for the clean girls, a shot of Vodka would be for a Brat. By 9 pm, clean girls are in bed trying to figure out how to be a better person tomorrow; Brats are dancing away the difficulties of the day with their friends. “It’s very honest, it’s very blunt, it’s a little bit volatile…It’s Brat, you’re a Brat, that’s Brat,” says Charli.
Something else you’ll notice is the ‘lime green’ – though it is more slime green to the rest of us – underlining this whole trend. When picking the cover for the album, Charli said she wanted to explore what we as humans associate with what it means to be “disgusting” and “different”. She found an ugly green colour and paired it with what looks to be the most basic, Arial Narrow for those curious, font and created her Brat cover. This new idea of not bothering to glorify things and being unapologetically yourself in a world full of societal expectations is what we love about Brat.
Apart from the conventions, Charli XCX’s new album, Brat, will be a totally exciting, career-defining moment. A stereotypical pop album, Charli XCX utilises catchy pop choruses mixed with synths and verses that make you feel like it’s 1 am at the club and you’re having the time of your life. However, it’s also more introspective and raw compared to her old stuff (see “Crash” and “Sucker”, both equally good albums in their own right, and also exploring her culture being born in Essex).
Brat is a mumbled, but still all so intentional, mix of Lady Gaga’s club music, produced to an alternative sad sound, symbolic of Charli’s inner turmoil about her place in the music community. Tracks like “360” and “Von Dutch” give off a confident and super cocky energy whereby Charli self-proclaims herself an underground icon (which she totally is). Other tracks, like “So I,” and “I Might Say Something Stupid”, build up towards the intimacy of insecurity and grief at the passing of her close friend and music collaborator SOPHIE in these lyrical verses, representing a more fragile side: “You had power like a lightning strike…It’s ok to cry, So I know I can cry, I can cry, so I cry.”
But for now, I’d like to leave you with a list I’ve compiled of some Brat essentials:
- Continuously streaming Brat
- Saying “boppin’ that”- trust.
- Messy hair – not brushed and preferably worn down
- Sunglasses, always on even indoors, square-rimmed
- Anything in an ugly, green colour
- Those old, chorded Apple Earphones blasting your current favourite album (Brat)
Most importantly, a fearless, bold, unapologetic energy and personality – to be brought into anything and everything you do.