‘BRAT,’ Reborn: Charli xcx and the Art of Staying Relevant

“BRAT,” the fluorescent green-covered album that defined the summer of 2024 — colloquially known as “Brat Summer” — trickled back into the pop music zeitgeist on Nov. 20, when its creator, Charli xcx, released a trailer in collaboration with A24 for a mockumentary interrogating its massive success, aptly titled “The Moment.”

While it may seem insignificant upon first glance, this trailer points directly towards broader cultural trends — in today’s rapidly changing musical landscape, what does it take for an artist to maintain relevance? How far must a musician go to hold on to their moment?

These questions can be explored through a deeper examination of “Brat Summer” in its original context. It is important to understand that “BRAT” was not a cultural phenomenon due to the quality of the music alone — the caliber of Charli xcx’s sonics can be debated, but what is undoubtable is that “BRAT” was an identity just as much as it was a sound.

Specifically in the contentious social and political climate of summer 2024, people were craving the freedom associated with the aesthetics of “BRAT” more than ever. The unapologetic — and at times controversial — messiness of the album, especially surrounding its depiction of drugs and partying, gave listeners the ability to self-mythologize and unleash their frivolous impulses in a time when the weight of the world felt insurmountable.

Even when its moment was occurring, “BRAT” unapologetically existed at the nexus of authenticity and inauthenticity. The image Charli xcx built of herself through the album cycle fed off exaggeration, stimulating listeners by bouncing between raw, confessional tracks and songs that sound like a caricature of a pop star.

This dichotomy, however, is not only an element of her artistry — it is a reflection of the cultural environment in which today’s pop stars operate. Attention spans are rapidly shrinking, AI music has begun to chart, and music consumers are addicted to cycling through microfads faster than the artistry can be truly absorbed. It has never been harder for artists to stay relevant.

“BRAT” captured the world’s attention in such a potent way because it provided the perfect balance of stimulation, rawness, and fun. It reigned over an entire summer, and then it burned out in a neon green flash: In this sense, it was a reflection of the volatile culture of pop music today. This is why Charli xcx’s release of the trailer for “The Moment” is worth thinking about. Nearly a year and a half after “BRAT” theoretically arrived at the end of its lifecycle, Charli xcx seems to be obstructing the trend of ephemerality.

Her chosen method of obstruction, in the context of today’s pop music scene, is arguably the most notable part of this. “The Moment” is a mockumentary. Inherently, it is born out of self-parody, spuriousness, and hyperbole. This is not a simple extension of “Brat Summer” — it seems this film is meant to hold a mirror to the world of pop music, demanding a reconsideration of a culture that consumes and discards artists without care.

Relevance, in today’s music industry, is performance art. Exacerbated by parasocial relationships catalyzed by social media, artists must constantly maintain lively public personas while also pumping out music at a prolific rate. A musician’s art is now expected to be a new and exciting facet of their personhood — every album must be an “era,” and every action is perceived as representative of the fabric of the artist’s being.

Other cultural phenomena besides “Brat Summer” exemplify this, such as Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour” or the first two releases of Beyoncé’s genre-spanning album trilogy, “RENAISSANCE” and “COWBOY CARTER” — that is not to say that any of these performances or releases are soulless or low quality, but they are indicative of how musicians nowadays are expected to constantly both attach their selfhood to the art they produce while also reinventing their brand, leaving them trapped in a repeating cycle of self-destruction for the sake of relevancy.

By resurrecting “BRAT” through “The Moment,” Charli xcx seems to be attempting to expose the artifice of today’s musical landscape — a landscape in which every era, every moment, is a desperate plea by an artist to be witnessed and loved. Every forced TikTok trend, comeback tour, and surprising change of aesthetic is a one sided dialogue between the artist and an audience full of wandering eyes. “The Moment” seems to both play into this dynamic and poke fun at it.

Whether one chooses to interpret Charli xcx’s film as a step in this self-destructive process or a critique of it, there is an undeniable effectiveness in her taking control of the narrative arc of “BRAT.” It is undeniable that the film’s release at some level reflects the real anxiety of a pop star experiencing the theoretical peak of her career. By adding another layer to the conceptual world of “BRAT,” she seems to refuse submission to the reductive nature of pop music consumption — she takes control of her moment.

Maybe the concept of a pop star no longer has a natural life cycle. Maybe the only thing that perpetuates the career of a popular musician today is the fear of being forgotten tomorrow. If that is the case, “The Moment” may serve as a breakthrough for artistic agency, opening the door for a world in which the modern pop star does not have to yield to the will of the internet.