Few albums have shaped pop culture conversations quite like Brat.
The record transformed Charli XCX from a beloved cult-pop innovator into a mainstream cultural phenomenon, inspiring everything from internet memes to fashion trends while earning critical acclaim and commercial success. But behind the bright green visuals, sold-out shows, and nonstop celebration, Charli says she was quietly struggling.
In a candid new cover story with Rolling Stone, the 33-year-old artist opened up about the emotional aftermath of Brat, revealing that the period following the album’s success was far more complicated than many fans may have realized.
For Charli, one of the biggest challenges has been navigating expectations after creating a project that became such a defining moment.
“All of my albums work in opposites. They repel against each other, and that’s the connective tissue,” she explained.
“I knew when I was making it that I was never going to make that record again. It’s not creatively rewarding for me to make the same thing twice.”
That mindset has fueled ongoing speculation about what comes next. Rumors recently circulated suggesting that her next project would lean heavily into rock music, but Charli says those assumptions have largely taken on a life of their own.
“Obviously, I know that there’s been a lot of conversation around me making a rock album, which is something that I never said. But to be honest, I’ve never thought about genre in a binary way. I find that to be a very old-school notion. I don’t even know what the genre is. It’s just me and A. G. Cook and Finn Keane, doing our thing.”
One lyric that generated considerable debate was her declaration that “the dance floor is dead.” According to Charli, that line was never intended as a criticism of dance music itself.
“That lyric is very much about my relationship with Brat, and my personal experience with that album. My husband runs a dance-music label. There’s been such a wealth of incredible dance/electronic-adjacent records that have been coming out recently, whether it’s Slayyyter or Underscores or PinkPantheress. Dance music is in an incredible place.”
Perhaps the most striking moment in the interview came when Charli discussed her mental health.
“I have actually been a lot more offline. I don’t really look as much anymore. It’s just better for my brain. I know people probably won’t believe me, because I am inherently, at least in the past, a very online artist. But I recently have been really struggling with my mental health to the point where, if I’m being real, I’m in the worst place mentally that I’ve been in my life.”
The admission offers a stark contrast to the perception many fans may have had during the Brat era, which often appeared celebratory and carefree from the outside.
The exhaustion became so significant that she nearly stepped away from music altogether.
“I was really, really ready to peace out and take a break and not make music. I felt very creatively drained and not inspired to write anything new. Then suddenly, inspiration came.”
Even as she continues creating, Charli remains resistant to over-explaining her work.
“I don’t really feel the need to explain my intentions behind anything I do. But I’ll just say I find that things can be earnest and funny at the same time, and they don’t have to exclusively live separately. That’s how I feel about a lot of my work, and if people interpret that as trolling, then that’s fine.”
She also revealed that she plans to step back from lengthy media appearances.
“The discourse is loud, and sometimes that can be very overwhelming. This is probably going to be my last long-form interview with a journalist for a minute. You got in there right at the end.”
Reflecting on her career before and after Brat, Charli acknowledged how dramatically public perception has shifted.
“I don’t have a Miley Cyrus ‘hopped-off-the-plane-at-LAX’ kind of memory. Before Brat, I was the girl who sang ‘Boom Clap’ to people who didn’t really know me. And now to people who know me from just Brat, I’m the girl who smokes and wears sunglasses and likes the color green.”
Still, she isn’t allowing success to dictate her future.
“It’s funny the way that success can cage you, but I’ve experienced such a wide range of success and failure. For the people who knew me before Brat, they know the ebbs and flows of my process, and I understand the ebbs and flows of pop music and pop culture. So I feel relatively free in creating whatever I’ll do next.”
For an artist who has built her career on reinvention, it sounds like the next chapter will arrive on her own terms.
