How Charli XCX is hit of the summer after release of album Brat – and is even influencing US politics
AFTER years of bland, polished chart-toppers, Charli XCX has torn up the rulebook.
The British singer-songwriter has inspired a messy, volatile party-girl aesthetic following the release of her album Brat — which this week even ended up influencing US politics.
Barbie and pink are so last year.
Instead, brats party into the early hours, have a faint smell of cigarettes, wear what they want and speak their own mind.
She said: “It’s like this girl who goes to a rave and she is wearing a tank top.
“You can kind of see her nipples through it and she is sweaty but she is hot and she is dancing with her friends.
“I was just piecing this all together and that allowed me to go and write more songs under this guise of, I know what this girl wants and that girl is me.”
But while Charli — real name Charlotte Emma Aitchison — has become the It Girl of the summer, the Cambridge-born pop star revealed that she has not always been quite so cool.
She said: “I was making music when I was 14. I was so lame. The culture of cool, aesthetic references and being well read, actually, is happening younger and younger and younger.
“Most 12-year-olds are cool right now or have an awareness of, ‘my life on the internet.’ Like, ‘I need to present in a certain way and I need to have certain interests and understand certain things and know what is socially, politically, culturally correct, incorrect and what is aesthetically pleasing.”
Charli, who turns 32 next month, added: “It is not like when I was 12. Maybe I was just super-unaware and not very smart or cool, but those things weren’t crossing my mind — I was just in my space.”
But brats are not just here to party — they now could win the US election for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Following the news that Joe Biden dropped out of the US presidential election last week to be replaced by his VP, Charli wrote on X: “Kamala IS brat.”
Harris’s campaign on X and TikTok has since been rebranded as Kamala HQ, in the same font and lime green colour as Charli’s album cover, in a bid to target Gen-Z voters.
Alongside Charli, pop stars including Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Cmat are embracing their inner brat.
They aren’t at all afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves, like Sabrina on her single Please Please Please — the current UK No1 — in which she begs boyfriend Barry Keoghan not to mess up their relationship.
What is brat?
ACCORDING to Charli, a brat has:
A packet of cigarettes
A strappy white vest top
No bra
A Bic lighter
And US singer Chappell has endorsed Charli by posing with the Brat album on Instagram.
Thanking her team for the success of Brat, Charli wrote: “Even when I’m being an absolute nightmare, you still stand by me and make me feel comfortable to be myself.
“And at the end of the day, that’s exactly what Brat is all about: Me, my flaws, my f**k-ups, my ego all rolled into one.”
If being unapologetically yourself is what makes a brat, I am fully behind it.
Party of the week
WHERE: Garnier Pride Party at Sushi Samba, London, Wednesday, July 24.
WHAT WE ATE: Seared tuna tataki, wagyu gyoza and tiger Maki sushi rolls.
WHAT WE DRANK: Clover Club and Blue Margarita cocktails, prosecco.
WHO WAS THERE: Cher Lloyd, Megan Barton Hanson and Demi Sims.
GOODIE BAG: Garnier micellar water and baseball caps.
Caity’s chilling on boys
HAVING made her name singing catchy pop hits about boys messing her around, it seems Caity Baser may have finally found a good egg.
Asked if she is single, the Brit nominee said: “I don’t know . . . I’m not going to answer that question.”
But despite remaining coy, it appears that this current chapter in her life is also inspiring Caity in the studio.
The Pretty Boys hitmaker said of her new album: “I actually want to say something important.
“So far all I have done is just scream at men, but now I am ready to dive into who I am.
“I wrote down a plan – the name of it, the concept of it, all the song titles. Then I went in with this idea and spoke for two hours about everything I want to write about and they were like, ‘OK, let’s go.’”
“It will be a vulnerable side to Caity Baser, and chill vibes.”
I can’t wait to hear it.
Fran's pub love
EASTENDERS’ Francesca Henry cannot go to her local boozer without being recognised by fans – but she loves it.
The actress, who plays Gina Knight in the BBC One soap, says she is often spotted by people since joining the cast last year.
She said: “It’s great when I’m in the pub and I’ll chat to someone and they’re into EastEnders and know every family on the show and what is going on with them.”
Party? I would
WOODY COOK regrets that his superstar DJ dad Fatboy Slim and radio presenter mum Zoe Ball are both partied out and sober.
The Celebrity Gogglebox star said: “It’s gutting I can’t have a boozy night out with them.
“We used to have a bar in our house but it was ripped out two years before I started drinking and I’ve never forgiven them. They both prefer gardening now.”
Woody, who is DJing at Mucky Weekender in Winchester, Hants, in September, added: “As a kid, there was so much craziness. They didn’t leave any box unchecked.”
Good Luck, U.S of Bey
BEYONCE was flying the flag for the USA as the 2024 Paris Olympics kicked off on Friday.
The American superstar made a surprise appearance during the opening ceremony broadcast on NBC on Friday night.
She looked sensational in a cowboy hat, Team USA leotard and a flag draped over her arms in the video.
She even sported Stars and Stripes nails.
While her hit song YA YA from Cowboy Carter played, Beyonce introduced several Team USA athletes.
She said: “Everybody enjoying the show? Oui, oui, Paris.”
J’adore Beyonce.
Zac’s keen to score Vardy role
HE’S the eternal Hollywood hunk but I can reveal Zac Efron now has his sights set on playing an English lad instead – footballer Jamie Vardy.
The actor is a huge fan of the beautiful game, even flying to Berlin to watch the Euros and now wants to star in the upcoming movie about Leicester City striker Jamie.
An insider tells me: “Zack loves footie, or soccer as they say in the States, and is obsessed with the idea of Jamie’s rag-to-riches tale.
“He’s told pals he is really keen to play the football ace in the biopic about Jamie.”
The news comes after Tinseltown stepped up plans for the flick.
LA-based screenwriter Adrian Butchart recently revealed he was refocusing his efforts on it.
But who would play Jamie’s wife Becky? I reckon Olivia Colman, Emma Watson or Dakota Johnson would be excellent in the role.
Kylie’s personal challenges
LAST month, I revealed that Kylie Minogue was secretly working on explosive autobiography about her five decades in music.
But I now hear that the Padam Padam hitmaker, who is collaborating with a ghostwriter, is going to open up about her high-profile exes, who include Lenny Kravitz, Prince, INXS singer Michael Hutchence and Jean-Claude Van Damme – and her most personal challenges.
An insider tells me: “She plans to finally share some details about her former lovers and discuss her sadness at not having become a mother.
“Kylie will also discuss her cancer journey in the hope it helps other women. She’ll also go into detail about how, at the beginning of her career, she had a nervous breakdown as she couldn’t cope with the fame.”
It sounds like a rip-roaring page-turner.
Rita move’s beautiful
RITA ORA is already making waves in the movie world, and has a haircare line and a best-selling clothing range with Primark, but she isn’t stopping there.
I can reveal that the entrepreneurial pop star is expanding her empire and moving into cosmetics.
Move over, Kylie Jenner.
Savvy Rita has applied to the Intellectual Property Office to trademark Ora Beauty.
An insider tells me: “Rita’s first love will always be music, but she is so creative she adores make-up and is constantly trying different looks.
“She’s really keen to launch a beauty line and branch out. The sky is the limit.”
Meanwhile, the singer was last night forced to pull out of the Campus Fesztivál in Hungary.
She told fans on Instagram: “Having spent last night in hospital in Budapest, I must rest thoroughly and follow doctor’s orders.”
Get well soon, Rita.