The BRAT remix album is a creative reinvention that keeps qualities of the original album at its core.
Taking over the summer clearly wasn’t enough for Charli XCX, as the viral success of BRAT has been extended with the release of an entirely new remix album. Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat came out on Oct. 11 and reimagines all fifteen tracks from the original album, plus two deluxe tracks.
A handful of remixes were released before the album, and some simply added new verses to the songs while keeping them in their unaltered, original state (“360;” “Girl, so confusing;” “Guess.”) The best ones made for some of the biggest Brat moments this summer, notably Billie Eilish’s sultry, cheeky addition to “Guess” and Lorde hopping on “Girl, so confusing” to “work it out on the remix.”
The rest of the remixes take initial tracks into new stylistic directions while retaining some original key elements, be it a melody, a lyrical section, or parts of the beat. “So I” transforms the ballad’s melody into an uptempo EDM track in which the British singer recalls positive moments with her late friend and frequent collaborator SOPHIE, rather than lamenting her loss as she did in the original.
“Talk talk” with Troye Sivan is a fun remix that reworks one of XCX’s outro lines into a chorus and adds a revamped house beat.
The most dramatically different remakes are the highlights of this new project. “Club classics” is remixed into a club-pop banger that mostly samples lyrics from “365” and is complete with a rap verse from Spanish online sensation Bb trickz. The “365” remix swaps out the already hard-hitting acid house beat of the original for an even faster and more intense hard techno instrumental.
There’s also the stunning “Everything is romantic” remake, which reads like a gateway into “brat autumn” (notably swapping descriptions of Italian scenery for a rainy day in London). Its subdued Jersey club-style kicks are paired with strings and soft-spoken vocals from Charli XCX and frequent collaborator Caroline Polacheck, who delivers beautiful, harmonic vocal runs. The entire track feels like an atmospheric whirlwind of fleeting thoughts.
The album delves further into the bluntly honest meditations and confessions about pop stardom that characterized the lyrics on the original album. “Sympathy is a knife” with Ariana Grande, for example, explores the idea of being misconstrued by the media and facing industry and fan pressure amid stardom. The “B2b” remix sees Tinashe and Charli XCX adjusting to the fast-paced schedules of their newfound success levels.
“I think about it all the time” even features a new, spoken word first verse and repetition of being “so scared” that doubles down on the harrowing nature of the singer’s feeling of running out of time to make life choices or settle down and plan her future.
All features on the album prove to be effective additions, whether their contributions are short or long. Each artist plays into the narrative at hand, offering an additional degree of thought or experience to the themes on the original record.
The standout “Girl, so confusing” remix is notably a stellar response to the original track about Charli’s awkward, distant dynamic with Lorde. The New Zealand singer joins in to give her side of the story, opening up about her personal struggles and making the track even more visceral and honest in the process.
The BRAT remix album is indeed completely different. It retains and builds off select qualities of the original and brings entirely new approaches and voices to each track. Brat and it’s completely different successfully breathes new life into the BRAT album, creating a companion record that also stands as its own, unique body of work.
Trial Track: Everything is romantic featuring caroline polachek
Score: 8.5/10
