Charli xcx: does new album hit as hard as Brat? – The Latest

Summary

---

Podcast Summary:

Today in Focus: Charli XCX – Does New Album Hit as Hard as Brat?
Date: July 24, 2026
Host: Lucy Hoff
Guest: Laura Snapes, Deputy Music Editor, The Guardian
Episode Focus: Critical discussion of Charli XCX’s new album and her artistic evolution post-Brat.

---

Episode Overview

This episode of The Guardian’s “Today in Focus: The Latest” explores Charli XCX’s new album following the massive commercial and cultural success of her previous record, Brat. Host Lucy Hoff is joined by Laura Snapes, the Guardian’s deputy music editor, who reviews the album, discusses Charli’s creative trajectory, and examines the expectations and pressures that female pop artists face in continually reinventing themselves.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Living up to “Brat” and Defying Expectations

• High Expectations After Brat:
  • Charli XCX’s 2024 album “Brat” was described as a culturally defining, mainstream breakthrough. Many wondered if Charli could replicate such a moment.
• Sonically Different Direction:
  • The new album distances itself from the “club anthem” sound of Brat. Instead, it’s “rooted in guitars rather than synths.” (01:46)
  • The change is a deliberate subversion of expectations: “She has defied expectations by making something...a smaller sound...I think that element of surprise is really interesting.” (Laura Snapes, 01:46)
• Navigating Artistic Reinvention:
  • Charli faces the challenge of pleasing long-term fans while bringing in new ones, and balancing creative evolution with commercial demands.

2. Complexity and Subtlety of the New Album

• Mixed Critical Reception:
  • Snapes gave the album five stars, the highest in current reviews, while others gave only two stars, reflecting its divisive impact. (02:51)
• Subtle Genius:
  • “It’s subtler than Brat, but I think it is just as smart.” (Laura Snapes, 02:51)
  • The album may gain more appreciation when performed live, as Charli is set to headline Reading and Leeds in August.

3. The “Rock Music” Single and Genre Playfulness

• Lyric Controversy:
  • The line “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music” in her single “Rock Music” stirred debate, particularly among dance music fans. (03:35)
• Intentional Irony:
  • Snapes clarifies that the lyric is “tongue-in-cheek – it’s about the idea of the cultural reset.” (Laura Snapes, 04:11)
  • Charli is not abandoning dance music, but is poking fun at cyclical genre trends in pop.
• Creative Encouragement:
  • “There’s a bit where she sings, jump off the stage today. Maybe they catch you, maybe they don’t. And it’s like she’s affirming people, take a creative leap.” (Laura Snapes, 04:11)

4. Gendered Pressures in Pop Reinvention

• Scrutiny of Female Artists:
  • Lucy Hoff notes, “Female artists in particular have a pressure to reinvent themselves…a pressure that it doesn’t seem to exist in the same way for male artists.” (05:31)
  • Snapes agrees, pointing to artists like Ed Sheeran who are not held to the same standard: “He’s just worn a t-shirt for 20 years. Everybody’s fine with that.” (Laura Snapes, 06:15)
• Charli’s Artistic Drive:
  • Charli’s reinvention is driven less by external commercial pressure and more by “restless energy” and genuine creativity. “She says, ‘I don’t have hobbies,’... She just makes music; she’s just creative.” (Laura Snapes, 06:15)

5. Expanding into Film and Creative Growth

• No Hobbies – Just More Creativity:
  • Charli has started acting, starring in films like The Moment (mockumentary) and Erupture (indie drama).
• Critical Assessment of Acting Ventures:
  • The Moment “wasn’t super successful as a mockumentary… But she’s an enjoyable presence in it.” (Laura Snapes, 07:37)
  • Erupture showcased “a very naturalistic performance… very different from the punchy Brat, like neon sort of thing. I thought she was really good in that.” (Laura Snapes, 08:38)
• Authenticity in New Fields:
  • Charli is not a dilettante: her exploration in acting and fashion are “about how can she expand her artistry, test it, and push herself into new fields.” (Laura Snapes, 08:27)
  • Her move into film is partly driven by the excitement and fear of new challenges, as opposed to music, which now comes easily to her after nearly 20 years.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Pressure to Reinvent:
  • “I think that’s definitely true for female artists… Look at Ed Sheeran, he’s just worn a t-shirt for 20 years. And everybody’s fine with that.”
    — Laura Snapes (06:15)
• On Creative Restlessness:
  • “For her, it’s about restless energy rather than somebody at the label being like, how do we market you this time around?”
    — Laura Snapes (06:55)
• On Taking Creative Risks:
  • “Jump off the stage today. Maybe they catch you, maybe they don’t. And it’s like she’s affirming people, take a creative leap.”
    — Laura Snapes quoting Charli XCX lyric (04:38)
• On Genre Cycles:
  • “One minute we’re doing rock, next minute we’re doing pop, then everybody’s doing like a turn to country or whatever… It’s very funny and self-aware and tongue-in-cheek to be like, now this is what we’re doing actually.”
    — Laura Snapes (04:11)
• On Creative Expansion:
  • “Most of the time, she’s got hair stripped back, no makeup on, just like running around Poland smoking cigarettes in the summer. And I thought she was really good in that.”
    — Laura Snapes on Erupture (09:28)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:46 – Snapes on album’s stylistic pivot and subverting expectations
• 02:51 – Reception: Five-star rating vs. mixed reviews
• 03:35 – Discussion of genre shift and “Rock Music” lyric controversy
• 04:11 – Interpretation of the album’s tongue-in-cheek tone
• 05:31 – Gendered pressure to reinvent in pop
• 06:15 – Comparison to Ed Sheeran; female artists’ double standards
• 07:37 – Charli’s work in film and analysis of “The Moment” and “Erupture”
• 08:27 – Artistic authenticity across different mediums

---

Episode Takeaways

• Charli XCX’s new album represents a bold, guitar-driven pivot from her Brat era, confounding audience and critical expectations with wit, intentionality, and subtlety.
• Snapes’ five-star review contrasts with other mixed reactions, reflecting the challenge and reward of artistic reinvention.
• Charli’s genre play and “restless energy” are authentic, not driven by marketing trends—a sharp contrast with the industry norm.
• The episode unpacks how women in pop are uniquely scrutinized for their image and sound, with Charli as a case study for genuine transformation.
• Charli’s ventures into acting and fashion are not mere branding exercises but serious attempts at creative growth and personal challenge.

---

For those who haven’t listened, this episode delivers a sharp, insightful review and contextual analysis of Charli XCX’s new era, with wider reflections on artistry, gender expectations, and the nerves and necessity of creative risk-taking in pop culture.

Transcript

[Laura Snapes]

This is the Guardian.

[Barclays Investment Bank Podcast Narrator]

From globalization to innovation, sustainability to market volatility, there's always more than one side to a story. Explore different perspectives on today's most important business and economic issues with the Flipside podcast from Barclays Investment Bank. Hear two research analysts in a lively debate and get insights from every angle. To further inform your view, listen to the flip side on your favorite platform.

[Laura Snapes]

For her, it's about restless energy rather than somebody at the label being like, how do we market you this time around? So I made an album. It's really different from the last one and I love it. And why not? There's a bit where she sings jump off the stage today. Maybe they catch you, maybe they don't. It's like she's affirming people take a creative leap. I think you can also read it as like, come with me if you want while I do this, and also if you don't, that's fine.

[Lucy Hoff]

From the Guardians today in Focus, this is the latest with me, lucy hoff.charli xcx the British pop star has spent nearly a decade being a real pop favorite, a bit of a kind of cult classic, flying under the radar. But she obviously hit the big mainstream in 2024 with the release of the Brat album, which was this huge, culturally defining moment. Laura Snapes here, our dep music editor, and you've given her new album five stars. So clearly it's lived up to some very high expectations and followed on from the success of Brat, in your view?

[Laura Snapes]

Yeah, I think one of the really interesting things about it to me is that there are so many expectations after Brat. Like, would she be able to do that again? Would she be able to have like a monocultural moment like that? And I think because it was such a hit, a lot of people really wanted her to keep making that sort of like big, ratty kind of club music. And so I think she has defied expectations by making something. It has a smaller sound, it's rooted in guitars rather than synths, although there are synths on there. And for me, that element of surprise I think is really interesting. Also, how do you follow up something like Black when everybody wants you to do what came before and you've had this long career where you've kind of been innovating from the sidelines, and then success is the thing that's maybe going to trap you in this one image that people have of you. I think it puts a really interesting sort of premium on, like, how do you reinvent, like, because she's not the sort of Artist who wants to do the same things twice. But also, if you. If you go back to what you were doing before, you might, like, annoy the new fans. But if you also pivot in a really new direction, people are going to say, well, you're just doing it for the sake of it. So I think it's a really tricky thing to balance. And I think she also. She toys with that and she toys with the idea of, like, the cultural reset and like, the evolution of identity, not just as a pop star, but also as people. And yeah, like, the first time I put the album on very early on Wednesday morning, half past six in the morning, probably not the time to listen to a Charlie XCX album, didn't quite get it. And I was like, maybe it's a bit thin, I'm not really sure. And then I took it out and was listening to it in my headphones. And these days, she has such conversational delivery. It's really like intimate and sort of off the cuff. And listening to it that way, the whole picture of it started to evolve for me and I realized, like, oh, I actually love this. I think it's genius. It's a lot subtler than Brat, and it's had very mixed reviews today. Like, I've given it five stars. I think that's the highest it's got. Some people have given it two stars. But, yeah, I think it's subtler, but I think it is just as smart. And I think that in time, and also maybe when it's had a live incarnation as well, she's headlining Reading and Leeds in August. It's gonna start to come to life more.

[Lucy Hoff]

So, as you say, it's got this kind of very different style to Brat in that it's got these guitar riffs, it's got a little bit of synth, but it's not the massive club anthems that we heard in Brat. She herself has been a bit conflicted about whether it's a rock album or not. But certainly one of the lyrics in the first release, Rock Music, has the lyric, I think the dance floor is dead. So now we're making rock music. Which is drawn a little criticism from people who make dance music. And also for her fans, that song

[Laura Snapes]

is tongue in cheek. Like, I think it's about the idea of the cultural reset. Like, when I spoke to her earlier in the cycle, you know, she talked about how when you, you know, she's. She's nearly 34 years old. She spent her whole life in music. Anybody who's been a music fan that long, you see music cycle through different things. Like one minute we're doing rock, next minute we're doing pop, then everybody's doing like a turned country or whatever. And I think it's quite, it's very funny and self aware and tongue in cheek to be like, now this is what we're doing actually. And I think I knew that people were going to be so boring about the like, oh, I think the dance floor is dead thing with the sort coming along with their sort of think piece, which is like, actually it's not, but like that. Anybody who knows Charlie is a pop star. She's not the sort of pop star who climbs onto a trend, especially a trend that's been pioneered from the sidelines maybe by like queer people or artists of color or whatever, uses it for a bit and then chucks it away. She just doesn't do that. So she's obviously not being like, the dance floor is dead to me. I'm never going to do that again. But I think it's a funny song about the premium to reinvent and it's very button pushing as well. But I also think that within it it's kind of surprisingly earnest. There's a bit where she sings, jump off the stage today. Maybe they catch you, maybe they don't. And it's like she's affirming people, take a creative leap, be creative with your friends. That's what the song is also about. See what happens. But I think you can also read it as like, come with me if you want while I do this and also if you don't, that's fine.

[Lucy Hoff]

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, I think, I mean lots of people think of Charli XX as a sort of Gen Z pop star, but she is now 34. So, you know, like, maybe the stylistic change represents an artist who's coming into her maturity and that represents something about this pivot. She got married last year. She's been in the music industry for a long time, as you say. But I suppose, you know, I'm interested in the idea that female artists in particular have a pressure to reinvent themselves, to come with new sounds. And I think that's a pressure that it doesn't seem to appear to exist in the same way for male artists. I don't know if you agree with that and whether that's something you've spoken to Charlie about.

[Laura Snapes]

I think that that's definitely true for female artists and more so than male artists. Like, you know, look at Ed Sheeran, he's just worn a t shirt for 20 years. And everybody's fine with that. Like he doesn't have to razzle dazzle differently every time he does something. But I think that the way that Charlie reinvents it's different from that sort of like commercial imperative to do it. I think she's toying with the idea of it on this record, but she is somebody who, she has like a genuine relationship with the underground. Like since about 2016. She started working with these really avant garde producers who at the time went under the umbrella of or were associated with PC music. And they're making really freaky underground sounds, sort of innovating from the sidelines. And so she is really, really invested in what's new, what's interesting, not repeating herself. And for her, I don't think it's like, I've got to push a new product on the public. Like everything I'm doing is orange this time or whatever. Although ob, like brat was green and this is very black and white. I think she's restless and like uber creative. And you know, she said a number of times like, I don't have hobbies. And she says hobbies, like it's a sort of filthy concept. She just makes music, she's just creative. So I think she's, for her it's about restless energy rather than somebody at the label being like, how do we market you this time around?

[Lucy Hoff]

Even though she says she doesn't have any hobbies, she has been sort of dabbling in filmmaking, hasn't she? She's planning to appear as an actress. She made a film called the Moment, which. So she is sort of expanding her creative horizons.

[Laura Snapes]

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think it's all part of like a sort of restless creativity. And one of the, one of the best songs on the record, which actually came out as a single this week with an amazing video with the French actor Vincent Cassel. It's called, it's called Camera and it's about how she basically singing like right, inherits right into her internal monologue. Like, am I stupid for wanting to like chuck my life away as a musician? Because when I'm standing in front of a camera, I feel so alive and free and unafraid and also like able to be anything but myself. I can be anything, you know, a lot. A lot of pop stars become multi hyphenates because I don't know, in this day and age, like it's cool to start a book club or have a perfume or like a makeup line or whatever. And yeah, I mean, that's fine. That's a very old playbook. I have feelings on it one way or another. But I think that, you know, a lot of that stuff is just about product that's got your name on it and sort of like brand awareness. Where I would say for Chart, whereas I would say for Charlie. Doing stuff with fashion, which is definitely a world I know a lot less about. And doing stuff with film, it's about like, how can she expand her artistry and tech, test it and push herself into new sort of like fields. The acting stuff has been really interesting. The moment, I don't think was super successful as a mockumentary. It seemed a bit confused. And for somebody who really doesn't pull her punches in her lyrics, it felt like it pulled its punches a little bit. But she's an enjoyable presence in it. She's good at playing an exaggerated version of herself. But the only other film role of hers I've seen so far is a film called Erupture, which is a film set in Poland. It's a very low key indie film and it's about a young woman who goes out there with her boyfriend who she plays the young woman who she doesn't really like and she can tell that he's going to propose and she's trying to give him the slip. And it's a very naturalistic performance from her. It's very different from like the punchy Brat, like neon sort of thing. Most of the time she's got like hair stripped back, no makeup on, just like running around Poland smoking cigarettes in the summer. And I thought she was really good in that. So I think she's. She's not a dilettante. Like she's really committed to this. I think like her. Her letterboxd account, the website that people track their film viewing on, that leaked a couple of years ago. So people know she's got like pretty radical taste in film. And she's quite ardent about like Lear cinema and stuff. And I think she's a real student. And I think one of the things that's interesting about her moving into film, it's like music. She could make any kind of music she wanted with her eyes closed at this point, like the album before Brat was her being like, can I make, you know, big Radio one bops that are kind of impersonal, just like big pop music and pull it off. Yes, she did. She can do that in her sleep. That's not really interesting to her. But I guess the sense with something like film, it's like, this is new to me and it's scary and like, it gives you a feeling of like I don't know what I'm doing here that she has maybe doesn't have in music quite so much because she is a pro and she's been doing this for pretty much 20 years, since she was a teenager.

[Lucy Hoff]

Yeah. Well, what a career. And a big five star review from you today and the Guardian. A little bit of a mixed bag elsewhere, but we'll let listeners and viewers make up their own minds. Laura, thank you so much for your time.

[Laura Snapes]

Thank you for having me.

[Lucy Hoff]

That's it for today. My huge thanks again to Laura Snapes, the Guardian's deputy music editor. You can keep up with all her work [e-mail] and I really recommend yesterday's episode of our sister podcast, Politics Weekly. Pippa Kreira and Kieran Stacey will be having a look at Andy Burnham's first week as prime minister. Thanks for listening to this episode of the latest Today in Focus. We'll be back in your feeds as usual on Monday morning. The latest we'll be back on Monday night. This episode was presented by me, Lucy Hoff. It was produced by Angus Neal and Belinda Gurung. The senior producer was Ryan Ram Gobin. The executive producer was Zoe Hitch.

[Laura Snapes]

This is the Guardian.

[Aura Advertisement Narrator]

Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the Internet, then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where Aura comes in. Aura actively removes your data from broker sites and keeps it off. They also instantly alert you if your information shows up in a breach or on the dark web. But Aura goes beyond data protection. With one app, you get a vpn, antivirus, password manager, spam, call protection, dark web monitoring, and even up to $5 million in identity theft insurance. All backed by 24. 7 US based fraud support. Other companies might sell just credit monitoring or even just a vpn. Aura gives you all of it together at the same price competitors charge for just one service. Start your free trial [e-mail] safety. Protect yourself [e-mail] safety.