Brat was the chaotic party era that unexpectedly defined a cultural era. Now we have Music, Fashion, Film which is the raw, lo-fi morning after. Functioning as Brat’s darker, more experimental sister, Charli XCX’s seventh studio album swaps out club-heavy bops for the comedown that comes after all the chaos.
What makes the project stand out isn’t just its genre pivot, but its willingness to go deeper into the psychological damage left behind by pop superstardom. Across its tight 30-minute runtime, Charli turns the lens directly onto the Brat phenomenon itself, laying bare the physical and emotional toll of living up to a meme-esque persona. Tracks like “Persona” and “Camera” dissect the burnout, artistic dislocation, and identity exhaustion that came with becoming a pop culture icon.
On tracks like “Persona” and “Camera”, she wrestles with the obligation to remain permanent, unbothered, and loud for public consumption. She explores how the Brat persona, initially an empowering f*** you to pop perfectionism, eventually felt like a cage in itself.
Music, Fashion, Film isn’t crafted to be as digestable as its predecessor, and that’s precisely why it works. Charli reclaims her identit – she is artistically free to do as she pleases.
The Verdict
Music, Fashion, Film proves that Charli XCX isn’t interested in playing it safe. It’s vulnerable, deep and further proof that she is operating in a lane entirely of her own making. 8/10
Top Tracks
SS26, 2007. I’m Afraid and Wink Wink.
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