Charli XCX was one of 2024’s biggest stars thanks to the sweeping success of Brat. The project is iconic now, but it all had to start somewhere, and that somewhere is Charli’s manifesto for the album
She just shared excerpts from it on her private Instagram account, and it explains her mindset behind the project. Of the Brat album cover, she explains, “THE ARTWORK FOR BRAT WILL BE OBNOXIOUS, ARROGANT AND BOLD. SOME PEOPLE WILL HATE IT.”
Of the Brat era in general, she wrote, “THERE IS NO EXPLANATION FOR WHAT I DO. THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS ‘NO COMMENT’. WE MUST CULTIVATE DESIRE, CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION. THE WHOLE ALBUM CAMPAIGN IS HIGH ART. BUT IT IS ALSO CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTAND THE BENEFIT OF LOW ART AND CELEBRITY. THE COUPLING OF THE TWO IS VITAL.”
Find the full text from Charli’s posts below.
“THE ARTWORK FOR BRAT WILL BE OBNOXIOUS, ARROGANT AND BOLD. SOME PEOPLE WILL HATE IT. IT WILL BE HEAVILY TEXT BASED, EITHER FONT ON A PLAIN BACKGROUND OR SOME KIND OF PAINTING ON A WALL OR DISREGARDED OBJECT.”
“THERE IS NO EXPLANATION FOR WHAT I DO. THE ANSWER IS ALWAYS ‘NO COMMENT’. WE MUST CULTIVATE DESIRE, CHAOS AND DESTRUCTION. THE WHOLE ALBUM CAMPAIGN IS HIGH ART. BUT IT IS ALSO CRUCIAL TO UNDERSTAND THE BENEFIT OF LOW ART AND CELEBRITY. THE COUPLING OF THE TWO IS VITAL.”
“I WILL THROW A RAVE PROBABLY LONG BEFORE THE ALBUM IS OUT TO TEASE NEW MUSIC. THIS SHOULD BE THE FIRST THING I ANNOUNCE. I WILL PLAY UNFINISHED DEMOS FOR THE FIRST TIME AND HAVE OTHER COLLABORATORS WHO ARE WORKING ON THE ALBUM DJ TOO. WE WILL MAKE EDITS. MANY EDITS. IT WILL BE THE FIRST TIME ANYONE HEARS SNIPPETS OF THE MUSIC FROM BRAT BUT NO ONE WILL KNOW WHAT THEY ARE HEARING. EVENTUALLY THESE DJ SETS WILL BE REFERENCED AND LOOKED BACK UPON.”
“YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND MY VISION. THIS IS GLOBAL. I WILL PROVIDE MOMENTUM AND TELL THE STORY IN A LASER FOCUED WAY. WE MUST EXECUTE EVERYTHING WITH POWER AND CONFIDENCE.
THE ANGELS ARE READY AND WAITING. THIS IS THE MOMENT.”
