Photograph credits: Elena Ternovaja
In 2024 Charli xcx reimagined what a modern dance-pop record could sound like with her career-defigning album, ‘BRAT’. Now, in 2026 she is done with dance music. “I think the dance floor is dead,” Charli xcx said in a recently released British Vogue cover story “so now we’re making rock music.”
More than a regular album rollout, ‘BRAT’ was a cultural movement that had to be experienced to be believed. From the record’s neon-green album cover becoming a viral meme template, to US presidential candidate Kamala Harris playing into the craze – Charli xcx’s ‘brat summer’ had undoubtedly become a global phenomenon – something bigger than the music alone.
According to the British Vogue feature, she is trading in her usual electronic-leaning sound palette for something more guitar-forward – and relying less on heavily processed autotuned vocals. The sheer success of ‘BRAT’, is what makes it all the more interesting that Charli xcx is stepping away from the very sound that transformed her from underappreciated electro-pop darling, to household name it-girl. Why the sudden jump in sound?
“For me, it’s fun to flip the form. We know there’s gonna be people who are bothered by it, but that’s fine,” she said speaking on her new album, “we were doing our version of analogue, which is so silly and funny.”
