You Can Be My Wave

After a string of fairly forward thinking pop albums, I was disappointed to hear Charli regress into a safer, more commercial pop direction on CRASH. I didn't find a lot of that material to be very memorable at all, and was hoping that the record would not spell an end to the hyperpop path she and her collaborators had been founding. Thankfully with brat, Charli has rebounded back to a sound that I find a little more interesting and engaging. 360 has become the song of my summer thanks to A.G. Cook's insanely catchy production and Charli's cool confidence. Sympathy is a knife was another favourite given just how much the chorus explodes from these very dry and tightly-compact verses. The softer, more introspective moments also go over quite well as they are opportunities for Charli to reveal a great deal about her public insecurities (I might say something stupid), honour the late SOPHIE by expressing regret that she didn't really hold up her end of the friendship (So I), and even considering leaving the industry in favour of motherhood (I think about it all the time).

Generally, everything goes over quite well, but there were a few moments I wasn't crazy about. The layered vocals on Club classics sound a little too sour which did put a dampener on the track for me. b2b is easily my least favourite song on the record. Given that this is more of a dance record, heavy repetition is to be expected. However, I don't find b2b to be catchy or engaging at all, resulting in a fairly agonizing listen. Lastly, I was not really interested in Mean Girls aside from the busy piano parts produced by Hudson Mohawke. The only other thing I could complain about is that some of the material to be released later on in support of brat is better than some of the album's core tracks. Guess is an absolute banger and the remix with Billie Eilish only makes it more flirty and playful. Also, while I understand that the original had to come out first, the remix of Girl, so confusing with Lorde was a pretty iconic moment in which both artists were able to come to an understanding by vulnerably spilling their feelings to each other in song. The added context makes this track actually quite incredible. If these two songs were on the album instead of some of the tracks I found to be weaker, I think the album could've been stronger. Alas, I understand that hindsight is 20/20, and that the order in which events occur has played a role in making these tracks more impactful than anyone could possibly have anticipated.