Charli XCX Ditching the Dance Floor? New Album Reportedly Leans Into Rock
Charli XCX is reportedly pivoting from the hyperpop sounds of 'Brat' to a guitar-driven rock album, signaling a potential shift in her musical direction. This news follows hints dropped on her Instagram and a recent British Vogue cover story.
Earlier this week, Charli XCX teased new music via a post on her b.sides (formerly 360.brat) Instagram account. Now, she's confirmed that a follow-up to 2024's Brat is on the way, revealing in a British Vogue cover story that it will be a rock album. "I think the dance floor is dead," Charli told Pitchfork contributor Laura Snapes, "so now we’re making rock music."
The new album is described as guitar-forward, noticeably absent of Charli's signature Auto-Tune. "We were doing our version of analogue, which is so silly and funny," she says. Producers A.G. Cook and Finn Keane, formerly known as Easyfun, who worked on Brat, returned for recording sessions in Paris during Fashion Week last month.
While the title remains under wraps, the British Vogue profile reveals snippets of lyrics focusing on Charli's relationship with her art: "I can take you to heaven like it’s 2007/Pop star in my bedroom like it’s 2007"; "I can feel all the things I don’t normally feel." Another line hints at the aftermath of Brat: "Nothing’s gonna last forever/And no one’s gonna last forever."
Beyond music, Charli discussed her burgeoning acting career, including roles in Daniel Goldhaber’s Faces of Death remake, Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, and her mockumentary, The Moment. Goldhaber, she says, convinced her to take on her first live-action, scripted role. "I don’t think I’ve ever felt like, ‘Wow, I killed that,’” she tells Snapes. “I feel ready to do it 1,000 times if necessary.”
Of The Moment, filmed during her arena tour supporting Brat, Charli reflects on the public's tendency to reduce artists to simple bullet points. “Going through this widening of my audience has made me aware of how you can sometimes get made into these bullet points…[and] that’s not something I’m shocked or even bothered by. Obviously, that happens—it’s cool when you can draw a cartoon of someone in that way.”
Earlier this year, Charli shared Wuthering Heights, a companion album for Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation, featuring collaborations with John Cale and Sky Ferreira. Following the release, Ferreira insinuated that some tracks were re-recorded versions of her demos. Charli's management clarified that while some tracks included "material from earlier sessions," the credits were agreed upon in writing before release.
Brat was featured at No. 7 in The 100 Best Albums of the 2020s So Far.
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