Nobody Asked But: Here are my thoughts on "brat"
ShannonCore #5
By the time you’re reading this, I will be on vacation! Very excited but that meant I barely had time to do any of my posts this week. It’s currently 10:35pm and I’m supposed to be up at 6:30ish to get ready to drive for seven hours. I really wanted to make sure I didn’t forget to make my posts for this week. So yes, this will be another album review since they’re pretty simple to curate! I have been listening to “brat and it’s completley different but also still brat” by Charli xcx. It’s not my usual genre of music I listen to but this album has me in a chokehold.
I know the whole album isn’t technically out yet, but I’m just going to rate what is!
Here are my my rankings.
4 points: that’s so brat
3 points: it’s kinda sorta brat
2 points: it could be more brat
1 point: it’s not brat enough
REMIXED SONGS
360 (ft robyn and yung lean) -
A remix of 360. It’s not my favourite off the album but I really like when they go “lights, camera, action” and when they say “1994”. I honestly don’t remember what the original one sounds like until I listen to it so I’m pretty indifferent to it.
Ranking: 2 points - it could be more brat
Talk talk featuring troye sivan
A remix of Talk talk, and I LOVE this remix. It is very different from the original one in the best possible way. I love Troye’s voice (I am not familiar with him at all) in this. I honestly thought it was a black man singing until I looked at the song title lmao. I felt like a FOOL! I really like when they start talking fast and say “Cause we talk that talk, yeah we talk all night, and the more i know the more I like you” and “K here’s the plan, I wanna fly out out to Amsterdam”. It’s just an overall fun song.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
Von dutch a.g cook remix featuring addison rae
This song reminds me of Jersey Shore. Like I wanna go to Karma and fist pump the night away! I feel like Addison Rae’s voice is perfect for this song. Her and Charli seem to be having a lot of fun collabing lately. I really like Addison Rae’s music and it’s nice to see her on a dance track rather than her normal pop princess vibes. I also didn’t realize the little scream that’s popular on tiktok came from this song. J’approve!
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
Girl, so confusing featuring lorde
This is one of my favourite songs of the year. Charli and Lorde made a really vulnerable song about their insecurities. Charli’s feeling jealous and wondering if Lorde even wants to be her friend. Meanwhile Lorde is only backing out of outings and pulling back because she is battling her own insecurities with her weight. I just feel like a lot of women and girls can relate to this song and have been in either or both of these positions. I’m glad they were able to perform this together, I watched that performance for 30 minutes on tiktok when people started posting. GIRL YOU WALK LIKE A BITCH.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
Guess featuring Billie Eillish
This is such a fun, girly song. I definitely like this version better than the original. Billie’s iconic voice adds so much to this already catchy song. The music video was also really fun. Also I thought the lyrics were “Aussie blue”, and turns out the lyric is “All see through”. My bad!
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
ORIGINAL SONGS
360
I’m so Julia! I don’t understand what this means but I can relate to it. I like this version more than the remixed version. The music video was fun too - lots of iconic internet girlies! I think it’s a really fun way to get people in to the brat mindset of the album.
4 points: that’s so brat
Club classics
I feel like this upbeat song really gets you in to the brat mindset. It transports you to a strobe light filled underground dance club. I don’t know how anyone could sit still while listening to the song. “I wanna dance to me” is also such an iconic line. Of course Charli wants to dance to her own art. She IS creating perfect club music. I’m just imagining that scene from Jersey Shore where Pauly is explaining beating up the beat. If you know, you know! And I love her shout out to her friend SOPHIE, who tragically passed away a few years ago.
4 points: that’s so brat
Sympathy is a knife
I wasn’t a fan of this song at first, but it’s slowly growing on me. Another vulnerable song from Charli where she is explaining her insecurities while comparing herself to another girl. “I feel all these feelings I can't control”. Who hasn’t felt that? I’m 31 years old still feel like I have tons of feelings that I can’t control. And it sucks and makes you feel weak or pathetic. Anyways the more I read the lyrics, the more I get the song.
Ranking: 3 points - it’s kinda sorta brat
I might say something stupid
This is not my favourite song from the album. It’s so slow compared to the other songs, and I feel like where it is on the tracklist takes me out of the brat mindset. I feel like I don’t pay attention to any of it when it comes on. Sorry to this song, maybe I will have a change of heart.
Ranking: 1 point - it’s not brat enough
Talk talk
I said above but I will say it again, I really like the remixed version of this song more than the original. It doesn’t feel as sexy or scandalous as the one with Troye. It’s still a good song and I do enjoy when it comes on, I just miss the remixed version.
Ranking: 3 points - it’s kinda sorta brat
Von dutch
After listening to the original and the remix one after another, I think I like the remixed one again. It does still make me want to dance, but maybe not at Karma. It doesn’t give the sweat inducing dance vibes I get from the one with Addison Rae. It’s still a good track from the album though, I can’t make a bop not a bop!
Ranking: 3 points - it’s kinda sorta brat
Everything is romantic
A song about Charli in Italy. It’s good but not as brat as I think I would have liked it to be. But I find it to be very Libra coded - fall in love again and again. Seeing the beauty in the small things. It does start off with a dreamy vibe and turns in to more of a dance club mix. The duality of a Libra, keeping things balanced. I think I need more time with this one, but I do like shoulder shimmying in the car.
Ranking: 3 points - it’s kinda sorta brat
Rewind
I love how honest Charli is on this album. I haven’t really listened to her stuff beyond if it played on the radio, so maybe this is normal for her. But I feel like her album is a little time capsule of her life. This song is all about going back to that feeling as a care free kid before you knew what your insecurities were, and how caught up someone can get in their own head. It doesn’t necessarily make me want to dance, but it does make me want to heal my inner child.
Ranking: 3 points - it’s kinda sorta brat
So I
A song about someone she let go. I’m assuming romantic but it also feels like someone who helped her make her music. Again, I don’t know Charli lore so maybe it’s obvious to others, but I’m just going off the lyrics. I actually ended up looking up the lyrics because I had a feeling it could be about her friend SOPHIE who passed away, and it was. Very vulnerable and sad. Hopefully Charli can heal with time.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
Girl, so confusing
I love this song of course. The remix just hits different ! So I do still enjoy this version, but I need the Lorde version to fully immerse myself in to it.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
Apple
This song is so much fun! The beat is good and I can’t help but do the tiktok apple dance. It’s like a Russian sleeper agent hearing his trigger words. I feel like it’s a song about how just because you come from your family’s “tree”, doesn’t mean that you’re going to be the exact same as the people before you. And that you are in fact your own person doing your own thing.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
B2b
I’m indifferent about this song for now. I don’t think about it when I’m not listening to the album, but I will bop when it comes on. I feel like there’s not a lot to talk about for this song since it’s pretty much the same thing over and over for the whole song. Basically Charli wants to break patterns and is tired of being the rebound girl.
Ranking: 2 points - it could be more brat
Mean Girls
I feel like this is a song about a very particular group of girls, and the girls who get it, get it! Charli is telling a story, and you will know exactly who she is describing. It’s like if someone mentions cookie monster pyjama girls in high school - you just know the vibe.
Ranking: 2 points - it could be more brat
I think about it all the time
I love this song so much, I really relate to it. Life really does change when your best friend has a baby. Everything changes and really makes you think about your own future. And Charli even says how she is worried about losing her freedom, but her friends are still wearing the same clothes as before and in my mind - she is saying that they’re still the same person. They just have a baby now. I think it’s a very sweet song and I’m glad she included it in this album.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
365
Who the fuck are you, I’m a brat when I’m bumping that. This song is a lot of fun and even funnier that Kamala was attached to a song where she’s talking about doing drugs in the clurb. I do have a good time trying to keep up the fast singing with Charli. I usually flop though.
Ranking: 4 points - that’s so brat
Hello goodbye
I almost forgot to review this one. Once again, I’m indifferent about it overall. I don’t hate it and maybe it will grow on me eventually. But today is not that day!
Ranking: 1 point - it’s not brat enough
Guess
Another instance where I like the remix more than the original. I think I just like how interesting a duo is on these songs! Charli really picked perfect people to collab with. I can’t be mad at this song though! Let’s not get that twisted.
Ranking: 3 points - it’s kinda sorta brat
Spring breakers
We made it to the end of the album. I feel like the album could have ended with Guess, even if they just switched this song and Guess with each other. To me, this is the kind of song that deserves to be in the middle of the album. We love the small references to her old songs though.
Ranking: 2 points - it could be more brat
Thank you for reading this ShannonCore post! I really enjoy this album and honestly don’t hit the skip button, even on the songs I gave a lower ranking to. If you like any of her songs that are going viral on tiktok, I think you would enjoy this album! I know I did. What’s your favourite song off the album!?
Signing off for now,
Shannon