Charli XCX released Brat in June 2024, and subsequently unleashed an international cultural phenomenon. Brat Summer still kind of feels like something that happened on a different planet instead of just last year. But, there’s no denying the lasting impact of the little chartreuse record that could.
Thinking back to Brat‘s global reverberation, it’s hard to imagine Charli feeling anything but confident about her album. However, during a recent appearance on Gwyneth Paltrow’s podcast, Charli admitted that she had a completely different mindset at the time.
“I actually made this record being like, ‘OK, I’m just going to do this one for me. Maybe I’m going to get dropped by my label and that’s fine,’” she revealed. “That was kind of the headspace that I was in.”
Obviously, there’s no concrete way to predict the kind of success that Brat achieved. Considering the album retrospectively, Charli XCX admitting doubt and thinking her label would drop her is a surprise. But, really, isn’t that part of the process of being an artist? Especially for clubby pop music, when success often hinges on trends and marketing, doubt has to sneak in somewhere.
Charli XCX Wants To Switch Things Up For Her Next Record
Once the dust settled on Brat Summer, Charli XCX started dropping hints about her next project. During the height of it all she released the deluxe version of Brat, then in October released a remix album. Then there was the Sweat Tour, co-headlined with Troye Sivan in support of their respective albums, Brat and Something To Give Each Other. This concluded in October 2024, with a surprise date added in June 2025 when Charli headlined Primavera Sound.
Right after the main leg of the Sweat Tour concluded, Charli headed out on the Brat Arena Tour, which ran from November 2024 to August 2025. Most recently, she and drummer George Daniel got married, and she’s producing and starring in the 2026 mockumentary The Moment.
So, what is Charli XCX planning for her next record? She told Paltrow that she’s working on something totally different from Brat. It might even include a string section, she said.
“I really like to work in contrast. I think whatever I do next will just inherently be different to Brat because that’s what feels natural,” said Charli. “I’m exploring a lot of stuff with strings at the moment, which I’m really enjoying and I haven’t really worked in that space before.”
Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage
The post ‘Brat’ Sparked a Cultural Phenomenon, but Charli XCX Initially Feared It Would Cost Her appeared first on VICE.
