I experienced this record after a perfectly wild night: dancing alone in a club, dancing in a crowd in the same club, going to another club for a bit but leaving because the music was too heterosexual, going back to the first club that was empty again and chilling in the DJ booth. In the same way, Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat is the same perfectly timed pendulum swing, satisfying all the same. Functioning as a second act and epilogue to Brat, this remix album fully embraces the idea of “Brat Autumn” with an introspective sound studded with unexpected smashes. Eschewing the pop structure is expected, but many were thrown for a loop when so many of the tracks became reworks. In a way, this album is a return to form like her feature-filled mixtape era; a reminder to the angels that the old Charli isn’t gone, despite Charli saying “Who the fuck is she?”
Our first inklings of this rumored remix album were “Von dutch a. g. cook remix featuring addison rae” and “360 featuring robyn and yung lean.” The former is a grating deconstruction, featuring Addison’s climatic scream in the breakdown. The latter is a Mount Rushmore of alt-pop figures, and honestly, it sounds like an afternoon in a Swedish studio I’d have loved to get in on. Both are incredibly solid reinterpretations of the tracks, but pale in comparison to some giants on this tracklist.
One of those such giants is “Club classics featuring bb trickz,” an ID teased at the original Partygirl Boiler Room that left fans salivating. What I thought was perfection was pumped up with biting synths and bb trickz’s infectious repetition of “brat en el club.” I would also be remiss to ignore “Talk talk featuring troye sivan.” I initially didn’t love the anti-chorus drop into Troye’s bar of “‘Kay, here’s the plan / I wanna fly you out to Amsterdam / I got a good hotel to fuck you in,” personally finding it a bit cringe, but after seeing it performed live at the Sweat Tour something clicked. This bangs hard. My bad Troye, I will talk to you in French, Spanish, or whatever language you want, just send me the address.
“Sympathy is a knife featuring ariana grande,” was one of the most anticipated remixes. While coining the short-lived meme of “issa knife” and boasting a sharp new beat, I was let down by Ariana’s contributions. With the precedent set by other remixes, her lyrics failed to reach the authenticity Brat is known for. When previously embroiled in tabloid controversy and given a free pass to talk her shit, she chose to sing “when you’re so pretty, they think it must be fake” among other cop-out lyrics. Everyone knows you’re pretty, Ari, and we both know you can do better.
Speaking of precedence set by other remixes, “Guess featuring billie eilish” is certainly one of them. It is truly a certified smash and bonafide sapphic anthem, an unmatched experience in any club. The other perfect remix is “Girl, so confusing featuring lorde.” In a zeitgeist-capturing lightning bolt, this song may have changed the pop landscape forever and permanently grafted “working it out on the remix” onto our vocabularies. Never have two stars been so vulnerable, and their reconciliation has created a joint slay that could shake the foundations of the pop industry.
The deep cuts of this record prove it’s staying power the most. “Rewind featuring bladee” reaches a coolness that the original doesn’t. “Apple featuring the japanese house” weirdly fills The 1975-shaped hole left on “I might say something stupid” a mid-tempo jam about trying to reach distant relations. “B2b featuring tinashe” is a well-earned pat on the back, with Charli and Tinashe flexing their packed “back-to-back” schedules.
With Charli’s supernatural aversion to missing, it was more than likely that a couple of remixes might flop. I found “Mean girls featuring julian casablancas” to completely miss the point. Turning the song on its head to talk about being the victim of a mean girl is interesting, but Julian’s whiny riff on “Owner of a Lonely Heart” is flaccid. “I might say something stupid featuring the 1975 & jon hopkins” could’ve used a bit of typical Matty Healy stupidity to make it interesting. Even as a fan of The 1975’s ambient tracks, I found this one lacking substance and a sense of perspective.
However much it pains me, I found Kesha’s verses on “Spring breakers featuring kesha,” to be sloppy. It was like she couldn’t find the beat or the heart of the song. She didn’t get the memo that this track was about hedonistic, self-referential fantasies of destruction such as “Place went boom, boom, boom, boom, clap / And I just laughed when the bodies went splat.” With so much to speak about in her extensive career and legal battles with Dr. Luke, no one else deserves to “go spring breakers” as much as her. But yet we’re left with the vague declarations of “suck on my dick,” and “we the party girl gods.” I could’ve used a couple more biting callouts, or even a throwback flavor to the production to give it new life. I wish I liked this more. Perhaps Charli should’ve invited the original Ke$ha on instead.
Despite the missteps, I can forget the worst of sins with the additions of some of these songs. If you thought Charli couldn’t get more real, “I think about it all the time featuring bon iver” proves us all wrong. Charli digs into her struggle with motherhood as her success complicates it. She is now posed with a tougher situation: when everything is at top speed it becomes even harder to consider stopping to start a family. “So I featuring a.g. cook” is a touching tribute to SOPHIE with Charli recounting her favorite memories over a bittersweetly bouncy beat. It’s an homage with sonic references to Charli, SOPHIE, and A.G.’s shared past.
“365 featuring shygirl.” Is–and should always be–a complete sentence. Since this first graced my ears in a promo back in March, I needed this song like oxygen. Opening her section of the Sweat tour with this, it’s evident that Charli knew what she had. Shygirl eats, of course. If only this song were longer than two minutes (sigh). Guess I’ll play it again.
In my opinion, there is one track that is the centerpiece of this album. “Everything is romantic featuring caroline polachek” is the remix that truly understood the assignment. Turning Mediterranean beauty into a gothic, urban daydream is just what the doctor ordered for mid-October. Both Caroline and Charli struggle to find romance in everyday malaise, but it results in a transcendent experience. I know of only one woman who could make me understand the lyric “free bleeding in the autumn rain” on a deep spiritual level, and also throw me an operatic “aaaæaaeeëeaæaaughaáahhhh~.” It reflects on the initial song in a way that heightens both tracks.
Brat and it’s Completely Different but Also still Brat sets an entirely new standard for a remix album and is inches away from being entirely new. I give this a strong 4/5 stars. The brattiest thing Charli could do is release a record of introspective reevaluations of her new status as a mainstream artist. This serves as the afterparty, intentionally turning away from the trendy momentum gathered over “Brat Summer.” Despite what anyone may think–disappointed with the lack of club bangers or bigger names–this album is brave and important. It only makes sense for Charli to do “one for me” and “another one that’s even more for me.” It’s worked for her before. With Grammy season ahead, it’s hard to imagine Charli leaving without one. It’s well deserved. With Charli confirming she’s taking a break to pursue acting, I’m so happy that she’s paused her career on a high note. I’ll miss her music, but I’ll be waiting for whatever she has next. If anything, this remix album is making a statement about her career that she’s never had to make until this point; she doesn’t want to be a pop star, she wants to be Charli XCX.
Connor Stanford is a senior Theatre Studies major with a concerning neon green clothing collection. They can be reached at [email protected].