Charli’s deep hatred of the major label system, of having her art and life dictated by a boardroom of faceless people, was public knowledge. She spoke of it often – sometimes in vague terms, often very bluntly. Her career has been defined by, among many things, the ferocious tension between commercial interests (and what that might look like if she embraced it, and whether she wants to) and the kind of pinballing freedom that enthralled her as a party-loving teenager in London. This context is important because it informs so much of Brat, the best album of her career. We knew what we were in for early on with the release of single Von Dutch, an acidic, warping track that feels like a fishhook in the guts. Then there were the must-get-into Partygirl raves she threw (the first Brooklyn Boiler Room party got more than 25,000 RSVPs). Then came 360, the second single and album opener, on which Charli declared, “I’m your favourite reference, baby”; the accompanying video featured a roll-call of It Girls including Julia Fox and Chloë Sevigny. Brat, the spiritual successor to Pop 2, is an album born from, and destined for, the dark, sticky clubs Charli so desperately loves. Tracks like Club Classics, Mean Girls and standout Sympathy Is a Knife are full of the serrated, twisted production she’s helped pioneer.
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