Charli XCX reveals ‘confusing’ toll ‘Brat’ popularity took on her

Charli XCX has reflected on the popularity of Brat, saying the sudden surge of interest in her music was a “heavy” change.

Her seventh album was at the centre of its own cultural phenomenon following its release in 2024.

Fans embraced the record’s hedonistic style, its simple lime green artwork became a meme, and it baffled political pundits after it was featured in social media campaigns ahead of the US Presidential race.

On Friday, Charli released The Moment, a fictionalised mockumentary that drew from the hysteria of “Brat summer” at its peak and followed the singer on the lead-up to her world tour.

Serving as a satirical comment on the mainstream music industry, the A24 film was made by using real footage from the Brat tour alongside fictional backstage scenes.

Speaking on The Graham Norton Show, Charli acknowledged finding a bigger audience after Brat, and how it informed the creation of The Moment.

“I had just come out of this huge change in my life where I’d made the album Brat, which opened me up to a whole new audience,” she said, adding, “I’d not experienced that scale of interest in what I had to say before and it was heavy, confusing and a very vulnerable change.”

“My response was to make art, so when I was asked to make a real documentary – a concert film – I wanted to poke fun at myself and that world. The music industry is ripe for satire, and I really enjoyed doing it,” Charli XCX concluded.