The year 2024 seems to have been the resurrection of dance, hyperpop and indie sleaze. All of this having been captained by the one and only Charli xcx who, with her neon green album Brat, has completely revolutionised the music and marketing landscapes.
Cohesive branding – such as the choice of a specific theme or colour, lyrical references and font aesthetic – as a marketing strategy is nothing new, just like artists creating a ‘trend’ for themselves has already been tested and approved. The 1975 did it for their I Like It When You Sleep era, when they deleted all their social media and then came back with a pink square on a random Friday. Justin Bieber before them with his purple aesthetic. However, the amount of monetisation and actual success of Charli’s Brat era is truly unprecedented.
The Essex singer saw a gap in the market for new and innovative electronic music and a strong industry presence and she took a leap with a seemingly simple, yet incredibly effective logo: “Brat”, written in a typewriter-like font, on a very specific shade of green as the background. Her fans, particularly those belonging to Gen Z, started noticing more and more details in Charli’s campaign. From a TikTok live showcasing the creation of the now-known “Brat wall”, which was used to announce the first collaboration of the era, to TikTok trends like the ‘Apple’ dance which now have become a staple of her live shows as well. From the outside, especially if it comes from a knowledgeable background in social media, all of this has fomented the hype and cohesion.
At this point, Pantone 3507C is not simply a shade of green anymore, but instead “Brat green”. However, this was not a sly marketing move, but rather a cost-saving measure. “Where the actual first idea of doing a text cover came from was to save money,” Charli xcx told Zane Lowe for Apple Music, “I was like, ‘This album is not going to appeal to a lot of people’.” However, this proved to be the most underestimated record launch of her career.
The amount of power, strategy, and good ideas that an artist has to have to pull a stunt like this is not to be ignored. It proves a great level of understanding from Charli’s side towards her audience. For example, the use of collaborations to amplify Brat’s echo worked perfectly. Knowing about the speculation around her alleged feud with Lorde, the ‘Boom Clap’ singer decided to “work it out on the remix” with the New Zealand artist with a revisited version of ‘Girl, so confusing’, sending fans wild and creating a true canonic event in this marketing campaign. Other features, such as Billie Eilish and The Strokes’ lead singer Julian Casablancas, made the ground shake and elevated the third variation of this album – Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat – to a new, autumnal staple.
Even seasons have been linked to this era, which has also played in Charli’s favour, as she crafted a true mass movement with Brat summer and now Brat autumn. While the former was characterised by heavy synths, club classics (no pun intended), and a wilderness in tone, the latter is more subdued, more demure, and introspective, thanks to highlights like the candid ‘I might say something stupid’ ft. Matty Healy and ‘I think about it all the time’ ft. Bon Iver, where Charli explores the endless train of thoughts surrounding becoming a mother.
In the last few years, as well as now, pop music and music in general have taken a deeply pensive and introspective form. Everything has felt heavy, from Taylor Swift reminiscing on old romances to Chappell Roan reflecting on what it means to be a girl in today’s society. However, Charli xcx decided to shake things up: mundanity, drugs and friendship seem to have been brought to the surface by Charli’s music, followed by smaller examples like Addison Rae and The Dare. Nothing matters, actions have no consequences, and life is too short to worry about anything ever. The interesting notion is that people seem to resonate with this, almost in a longing way. The audience needed to be distracted, to be told that it is okay to have fun once in a while (even for the entire summer) and that things are not, ultimately, that deep. There was a common necessity for frivolous lyrics, intricate yet catchy melodies and something that everyone could belong to even if, in this case, it was a simple shade of neon green.
Right before the British singer begins her UK tour promoting Brat, the product’s virality and trend, in general, has diminished. But it has not been forgotten. From brands still trying to ride its wave to even NASA utilising the shade of green to showcase a new space discovery, Brat is still alive and well. But, like every trend, there has to be a beginning and an end. Indeed, some people on social media have started to become oversaturated with the references, especially since even Kamala Harris used the Brat tactic to appeal to the younger generations. Halloween costumes, parody accounts, and critiquing journalism are also part of Brat autumn. It does not seem to faze Charli xcx, though, who has just concluded the Sweat tour alongside Troye Sivan and has released a new remix variant of the record.
Whether you are a “365 party girl” – as described the ‘365 featuring shygirl’ remix – or you’re trying to navigate the existentialism found in tracks like ‘I might say something stupid’, there is a place for everyone inside Charli xcx’s best work to date. After the success of her previous album, Crash, it seemed like the singer’s path was already beaten in the pop landscape. However, the birth of this latest project has expanded her horizons in unquantifiable ways. Along with its (very smart) marketing strategy, the album has become a cultural phenomenon. After staples like Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ and John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, Brat has also shaped this particular historical moment, defined by US political changes and the rise of right-wing ideologies. Whether it is via letting people forget about the darkness that surrounds them with catchy beats or motivating a young US citizen to vote, everyone can safely assume that Brat has become a lifestyle. You just have to embrace it.
Words by Silvia Pellegrino