If you’ve checked the internet at all in 2024, you’ve heard of “Brat”. “Brat” is the sixth studio album by English musician Charli XCX, and the project’s electro pop dance sound took the music world by storm. 2024 was deemed “brat summer” and the album has been comfortably sitting near the top of the charts since its release.
Charli has been dropping remixes of tracks from Brat since April, starting with the A. G. Cook remix of the first single “Von dutch,” which featured Addison Rae. This spree of remixes continued with tracks “360,” “Girl, so confusing,” “Guess” and “Talk talk,” with features from artists like Billie Eilish and Robyn.
On Oct. 11, Charli released “Brat and It’s Completely Different But Also Still Brat”, which contains all 15 tracks from the original album, as well as a bonus track from the deluxe album. All of these tracks that the world has come to know and love have been remixed and contain features from some of the industry’s current hot artists.
I am a big fan of “Brat,” so when I saw the remix album had come out, I dropped what I was doing to give it a listen. Some of the tracks instantly made a great impression, and others absolutely did not live up to the expectations of the original. In this article I will be ranking and reviewing all 16 remixes from worst to best. The rankings are determined by a couple of different categories, including how well they improve, build off of or compliment the original song, how well the feature works with the track and as always, my personal preference.
- Club classics featuring Bb trickz
Put simply, it’s not good. The “Club classics” remix is both grating and annoying. I understand it is club music, which can often trade melody for loud bass and beats, but that’s not an excuse for it to be bad. Additionally, most of the track pulls from “365” rather than “Club classics,” which never fails to bother me when a “365” remix already exists. Honestly, I might enjoy this track slightly more if it was a “365” remix. Not only does it feel like I’m missing out on an actual “Club classics” remix, but what I am given is also painful to get through, and trust me when I say I have had to get through it many times while preparing for this review.
Score: 3-
- 360 featuring Robyn and Yung Lean
The “360” remix is also annoying, but in more of a funny way, which is what gives it the edge over “Club classics.” The best thing this track has going for it is that it is not much longer than two minutes, thank god. The features from Robyn and Yung Lean feel so lifeless, everyone sounds bored. Yung Lean raps like he can’t wait for the track to be over, which is something that he and I agree on. In my opinion, if this version of “360” was the first track on the original album, I don’t know if I would have finished the album.
Score: 3
- Sympathy is a knife featuring Ariana Grande
This song is more disappointing than anything else. “Sympathy is a knife” is my favorite song from “Brat”, and getting some additional star-power from an experienced artist like Ariana Grande felt promising. Unfortunately, it felt like Charli went into the remix and decided to carve out all of the elements I loved. I don’t think this song is necessarily bad like I do with the first two, it’s just too much of a let down to climb any higher up on my list.
Score: 4
- 365 featuring Shygirl
Honestly, there’s not much to say about this track. The remix is not memorable, especially in comparison to the original. It’s fine.
Score: 4+
- Von dutch A. G. Cook remix featuring Addison Rae
This is another remix that I feel is just fine. It’s not bad. In fact, I think the bad tracks are behind us on this album. I don’t feel that this track lives up to nor compliments its non-remixed counterpart. Not much else to say about it; it’s not bad.
Score: 5+
- So I featuring A. G. Cook
I am a big fan of the “Brat” version of “So I.” I think it’s a beautiful song and tribute to her late friend SOPHIE, a musician and producer that worked with Charli. The remixed version doesn’t live up to it, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. It feels a bit repetitive at times and can easily lose me if I’m not feeling it when it comes on, but it’s far from a bad song.
Score: 6
- B2b featuring Tinashe
The “B2b” remix isn’t a standout on the album, but it’s a very good version of the song. It is catchy and fun and I am never upset when it comes on. Not much else to say about this one. It’s a good track.
Score: 7-
- Rewind featuring Bladee
What I enjoy most about the “Rewind” remix is I feel like it approves on the original material. “Rewind” was probably my least favorite track from “Brat.” It’s not a bad song, just didn’t hold up to the rest of the album. The remix redeems the song for me and was a pleasant surprise when I first heard it.
Score: 7-
- Guess featuring Billie Eilish
Let me start by saying that we are well past the point of the album where bad songs exist. “Guess” is a really good song. In fact, all of the remaining songs are really good songs. I think the ranking simply comes down to preference at this point. While it’s a lot of fun and I wouldn’t argue with you if it’s your favorite remix, “Guess” just falls short in my opinion in comparison to the rest of the songs, putting it at the halfway point in my rankings.
Score: 7+
- Apple featuring The Japanese House
“Apple” seems to be one of the tracks from the original album to really take off as a standout song. I was looking forward to hearing it remixed to see how you add to something that already is fantastic. The route that Charli and The Japanese House took on this track was refreshing. It didn’t feel like it was trying to prove anything nor top the original song, but rather be its own complimentary entity. The “Apple” remix is a very easy listen that just feels good on the ears.
Score: 8-
- Mean Girls featuring Julian Casablancas
If you had told me that there would be a “Brat” remix album that had a track featuring Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, I would laugh at the mere idea. This song is a mess, but I love it. It takes my favorite part of the original track, which is the rhythmic catchy piano riff, and it highlights it in a flattering way. It has elements that strongly feel like a Strokes song, which is what I was hoping for with the feature. I love that Julian was able to come in and work with Charli to make a track that feels truly collaborative and gives the best of both artists. This track is so much fun, yet not enough to crack the top five.
Score: 8
- Talk Talk featuring Troye Sivan
Man, it feels like they had a lot of fun with this one. It feels like the antithesis to the“360” remix. Everyone seems so locked in on this track and it just feels like a really good remix of “Talk talk.” The instrumentals are lively and engaging, and everyone gives a great vocal performance. Fantastic remix.
Score: 9-
- I Think About It All The Time featuring Bon Iver
I want to state for the record that the top five songs in my ranking are all super close. But as of right now, I’m giving the number 4 spot to “I think about it all the time featuring Bon Iver.” I feel like “I think about it all the time” was a good track, but underwhelming on the original album compared to the rest of the material we received. Now, I feel like the remix not only fully captures my attention, but rather demands it. I enjoy Bon Iver’s work as it is, and I love the influence he has on this track. His contributions feel so incredibly complimentary to Charli and her voice. I think these two have done a great job taking an already deep and emotional song and adding a whole new layer of feeling with the changes made in the remix process. This song is so good and I hope it doesn’t get overlooked, as I feel some songs are when they are so close to the end of an album.
Score: 9
- I Might Say Something Stupid featuring The 1975 and Jon Hopkins
Let me open with appreciation for the irony of getting Matty Healy on a track called “I might say something stupid.” That never fails to make me laugh. As far as the music goes, I love this song. I feel like the changes that have been made from the original track to the remix are amazing and give the song new life. While it does have a slower start, the track itself is a slow song and I will not hold it against it. The 1975’s contribution makes this track sound like something straight off their 2018 album “A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships”, which is an album that I love the sound and aesthetics of. I love the second half of this track that provides us with an amazing build up and emotional instrumental. I don’t want it to seem like I don’t enjoy the original track, because I really do, but this remix is everything I was hoping it would be. Despite not being my top track, I think this song features my favorite moment of the entire album with the last minute and a half of the track. This is the quality I was hoping for and expecting from a remix album of one of the best albums of 2024.
Score: 9+
- Everything Is Romantic featuring Caroline Polachek
Where do I even begin with “Everything is romantic featuring Caroline Polachek”? I had this song listed at number one up until the moment I sat down to write this review. I love this song and could very easily give it the title of best “Brat” remix. Caroline Polachek is incredibly talented, and brings all of that talent to this track. The remix is very true to the original song, but adds a certain aspect that makes it itch a certain part of my brain. Caroline and Charli’s voices compliment each other so well, and the entire track just has a beautiful aesthetic to it. This is one of the most beautiful songs of the year, and I think I like it the most as its own stand alone song, but not quite as the best from the remix album, if that makes sense. “Everything is romantic featuring Caroline Polachek” is a very deserving ten out of ten.
Score: 10
- Girl, So Confusing featuring Lorde
This song rocks, nothing else to it. In the context of the “Brat” album, this track stands out to me the most, and here’s why. It manages to not only stay the truest to the original track (which is a good thing in this particular case), but it also has such a drastic improvement with Lorde’s verse. Let me break it down like this. Have you ever listened to a song that you really liked and the melody gets stuck in your head, and then when you sing it back to yourself later you write your own words into the melody? Maybe not, but that’s what this felt like to me in the best way possible. Lorde brings one of the simplest but most impactful features on the album by providing a powerful verse on an already powerful song. Lorde’s verse feels like the perfect answer to the original track that Charli had on “Brat,” which for the record is also one of the best songs on the original album. All in all, a song that I didn’t think could get much better got much better, and in the context of “Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat”, it is the best song. Easy ten out of ten.
Score: 10
