Charli XCX is not trying to recreate Brat–she’s already onto the next obsession.
After dominating pop culture with 2024’s chart-smashing Brat, the singer has officially unveiled her seventh studio album, Music, Fashion, Film, kicking off a new era that swaps neon rave energy for a fresh creative direction.
If anyone thought Charli disappeared after Brat Summer, think again. Between remix albums, sold-out arena tours with Troye Sivan, starring in and producing The Moment, appearing in multiple films, and contributing to major movie soundtracks, she’s barely had time to breathe.
Ironically, the Moment may have summed up her mindset best when Kylie Jenner, playing herself, delivered the now-viral line: “The second people are getting sick of you, that’s when you have to go even harder.”
Charli admitted she almost walked away from music altogether before inspiration unexpectedly returned.
“I was really, really ready to peace out and take a break and not make music,” she told Rolling Stone. “I felt very creatively drained and not inspired to write anything new. Then suddenly, inspiration came.”
The new album has already teased its personality through singles including Rock Music, SS26, Wink Wink and Camera, signaling that she’s leaving the Brat dance floor behind.
Still, fans hoping for Brat 2.0 should not hold their breath.
“I knew when I was making it that I was never going to make that record again,” Charli said. “It’s not creatively rewarding for me to make the same thing twice.”
With festival headlining slots and another arena tour on the horizon, Charli is proving that staying still has never been part of her brand.
