Charli XCX returns to offer fans another look into her upcoming album, brat. The record will be XCX's first LP since 2022's Crash.
The British pop star surprised fans when she dropped two new singles, "Club classics" and "B2b," in the middle of the week. She also confirmed that the full-length abum is set to land on streaming services on June 7.
She premiered "Club classics" at her highly buzzed-about February Boiler Room set. The song enraptured the audience of 400-a mere fraction of the 25,000 people who attempted to get into the event. "B2b," meanwhile, is a completely fresh release.
"Club classics" is an explosive, candy-coated trip, complete with high-pitched vocals and warp-y, warbly bass. "When I go to the club I wanna hear those club classics," declares XCX in a repetitive drone. Her vocals loop on the haunting, crystallized pop track.
Floating above an electro-pop melody, she teases some of her back-end collaborative efforts on brat. She sings that she wants to "dance to A.G/(Right now, right now)," before name-dropping fiancé George Daniel of the 1975, friend and deceased hyperpop legend SOPHIE and brat producer HudMo. She follows this adoration of dancing to others with a declarative:
"Yeah, I wanna dance to me."
"B2b," the partner single to "Club classics," is robotic and spacey. XCX's vocals are crisp, coated in a slick layer of tasteful autotune. The song features XCX lamenting about a failed relationship. "I don't wanna go back, back to/Back to, back to, back to, back to you/I don't wanna fall right back to us/Maybe you should run right back to her," she sings. "B2b" dives into dark synths but keeps the focus on XCX and her feelings that reverberate throughout the track.
If "Club classics" is hot pink, "B2b" is a soft lavender.
XCX also teased brat's track list, which features fifteen songs. Despite XCX's recent collaboration with a.g. cook and Tik Tokker turned pop artist Addison Rae on a remix of "Von dutch," brat will not have any featured artists. The album has fifteen songs that are separated into an A-side and B-side. Brat features production from frequent XCX collaborators like a.g. cook and Easyfun.
Fans of XCX took to X, formerly Twitter, to voice their excitement. One user posted a screenshot of Sarah Jessica Parker partying on a dance floor in an episode of Sex and the City with the caption "Toot Toot! Beep Beep!" Along with the image they wrote, "Not Charli XCX casually releasing 2 new songs off her new album at 8am!!!"
Reddit users on the subreddit r/popheads, which offers a space for fans of the genre to celebrate their favorite pop artists, expressed similar sentiments. One netizen voiced the power of XCX's musical prowess: "She just understands the assignment when it comes to creating the perfect pop soundscape. This album is going to change many lives."
Before the album drops in June, scroll down to see the complete tracklist, which includes songs like "Mean Girls," "Girl, so confusing," and "Everything is romantic."
Charli XCX brat Tracklist
- 360
- Club classics
- Sympathy is a knife
- I might say something stupid
- Talk talk
- Von dutch
- Everything is romantic
- Rewind
- So I
- Girl, so confusing
- Apple
- B2b
- Mean girls
- I think about it all the time
- 365
