Charli XCX Talks Brat Green and Lorde in New Interview
Riding the hype brought on by her newest album, Brat, Charli XCX joins Billboard to discuss the iconic album cover and her reconciliation with Lorde.
There’s no denying it; “Brat summer” is upon us. From neon green walls to TikTok trends to social media users declaring which celebrities should “work it out on the remix,” the “Von dutch” singer’s eighth studio album has taken the world by storm.
In a new interview with Billboard, Charli XCX explains the origins of Brat green and provides insight on her touching collaboration with Lorde on the hit track “Girl, so confusing.”
The cover of Brat, featuring the ubiquitous shade of lime green that has become the pop star’s signature color, was not picked for its beauty. Charli XCX shares that, in reality, she finds Brat green “actually quite disgusting,” but that the color “spark[s] a really interesting conversation about [desirability]… It had to be really unfriendly and uncool.”
“We did hundreds of versions of the cover,” Imogene Strauss, the singer’s creative director, recalled. “We knew it was going to be green, but the conversations around the shade of green were weeks long…We analyzed every single element: where has this color been used before, what are its associations, who reacts to it and how.”
the genius of charli xcx is that every time i see anything neon green all i think about is brat, that’s marketing baby
— jamie (@vandedonkfc) July 15, 2024
tasks for the day:
— Bewakoof® (@bewakoof) July 16, 2024
listen to charli xcx
wear neon green t-shirt
unleash my brat mode
The “360” singer also opened up about reconnecting with Lorde after the release of “Girl, so confusing,” a song about Charli XCX’s complicated relationship with the singer.
“I had to go through the process of telling her that this song is about her and her being OK with that first,” the “Apple” singer explained. “…the day before the record came out, I left her a voice note. [Lorde] replied…and was like, ‘Oh, my God, I had no idea you felt this way. I’m so sorry.’ And then was like, ‘You know, maybe I should be on a version of the song.'”
Reflecting on the collaboration and the vulnerability of her verse on “Girl, so confusing,” Lorde expressed to Billboard, “I love that we truly did work it out on the remix. There’s something very Brat about that, something very meta and modern. Only Charli could make that happen…This whole thing has been such a huge honor.”
The Charli XCX and Lorde remix is truly the most important musical collaboration of our time
— Jacob Mears (@jacobkmears) July 16, 2024
Fans can stream Charli XCX’s Brat on all platforms.
