Brat packs a unique cross-cultural punch

DJ superstar, Glastonbury headliner and political influencer? Charli XCX on her upcoming Australian tour, partnering with Troye Sivan and her ‘exhausting’ experience with US politics.

British DJ Charli XCX is heading to Australia. Picture: Amy Troost for Vogue Australia.

Charli XCX is the moment. The 32-year-old pop star’s sixth studio album, Brat, has captured a collective mood, launched lime green into the Zeitgeist, topped the charts courtesy of collaborations with everyone from Billie Eilish to Lorde, and become the epithet everyone wants to be ­associated with.

Before the US Vice-President was officially anointed as the Democratic nominee, Charli XCX announced Kamala Harris “is brat” – if not a presidential endorsement per se then certainly a vibes-based one – on X, a social media post that launched 1000 cable news explainers.

Being a part of this volume of conversations is “really awesome”, Charli XCX told Vogue Australia for its September issue, “but also overwhelming”.

“I won’t lie. I thought my life was intense and then this … it’s definitely jumped up a notch.”

Charli XCX said that doing everything, and being everywhere, all at once – DJing on stages from Glastonbury to Ibiza, touring the US alongside Australian artist Troye Sivan, going viral with every social media post – can be exhausting.

Vogue cover featuring chart-topping British pop star Charli XCX. Picture: Amy Troost for Vogue Australia.

“How do I split my body into 25 different pieces so I can be in 25 different places at once? That’s the vibe,” she said.

But the singer songwriter is also trying to enjoy her global moment.

While she’s had chart-topping hits before – co-writing I Love It for Icona Pop, guesting on the Grammy-nominated Fancy by Iggy Azalea, and landing on the Billboard top 10 with Boom Clap – Brat is undoubtedly her biggest commercial, critical and cultural success.

“I’ve made records in the past where I felt like, ‘Oh, this should really resonate with a lot of people,’ but it doesn’t,” Charli XCX said. “So, it’s cool, but I also feel like I deserve it. It’s nice to be ­vindicated.”

The album covers everything from anxieties over motherhood, career success and female friendship – while also being an ode to her love of a good party.

But, Charli XCX stressed, it’s not about giving anyone life ­direction.

“There is nothing I hate more in pop music than being preachy,” she said. “Because I think it’s lame, and I don’t think your favourite pop star has the answer.

“I think they’re also just figuring it out. I am a mess, but I sort of make it work.”

It was this mentality that inspired the record, which has since become the biggest hit of her ­career. “It felt like everybody was too bogged down with being liked, being quote-unquote kind, being unbelievably human, but not actually presenting what being human is, which is extremely flawed, messy, problematic, stressed out, anxious,” she said. “I was like, OK, maybe I should just be, actually, really real. That is kind of a shock to the system because the reality is everybody’s not nice all the time.”

Vogue Australia’s September issue is on sale Monday, September 2