Charli XCX says ‘Brat’ cover with blurry text was to “save money”

9 October, 2024

Charli XCX and ‘Brat’ album art split image

Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ album cover might be one of the most iconic images of 2024, but she’s revealed that she made it in order to save money.

READ MORE: Charli XCX on new album ‘Brat’ – and if her fans are more intense than The 1975’s

Speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, she shared that she decided on the simple artwork because she didn’t think the album would be the success it ended up being – it reached Number Two in the UK and Number Three in the US.

She said: “Where the actual first idea of doing a text cover came from was to save money. I was like, ‘This album is not going to appeal to a lot of people.’”

To that end, it seemed logical to put the money elsewhere. She continued: “I was like, ‘I think I will do a press shoot and then maybe we just save on the album cover.’”

While not everyone agreed with her choice – her manager, creative director and friends thought it was “the stupidest idea ever,” she explained, “It actually feels like it very much embodies the word ‘brat’ to kind of not be there because that is sort of less of the norm, I suppose, for female artists.”

“I knew that a lot of people would be sort of frustrated or disappointed by it. And I think for me, it’s like I would rather have those conversations, which actually in some cases became quite explosive, than a picture where people are like, ‘She looks good.’”

@applemusic

“I was like this album is not going to appeal to a lot of people.” @Charli XCX shares the origin story of BRAT’s iconic text cover. #CharliXCX #BRAT #MusicOnTikTok

♬ original sound – Apple Music

When Charli, real name Charlotte Aitchison, first shared the artwork earlier this year it was met with a mixed reaction online – which she addressed in an interview with Vogue Singapore. “They were like, ‘Why isn’t she going to be on the cover? She needs to be on the cover’,” she said. “Why should anyone have that level of ownership over female artists?”

She added: “I wanted to go with an offensive, off-trend shade of green to trigger the idea of something being wrong. I’d like for us to question our expectations of pop culture –why are some things considered good and acceptable, and some things deemed bad? I’m interested in the narratives behind that and I want to provoke people. I’m not doing things to be nice.”

On X/Twitter, she wrote: “I think the constant demand for access to women’s bodies and faces in our album artwork is misogynistic and boring.’

i think the constant demand for access to women’s bodies and faces in our album artwork is mysoginistic and boring

— Charli (@charli_xcx) March 14, 2024

Despite the debate around the album cover, however, it’s fair to say that Charli has been vindicated for her choice. The album and its artwork spawned the ‘Brat summer’ trend, which even found its way into American politics when the campaign for presidential candidate (and current Vice President) Kamala Harris changed its banner picture on X in imitation of the cover – Charli then responded by saying, “Kamala IS ‘Brat’”.

Meanwhile, there’s a new ‘Brat‘ remix album, ‘Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat’ out on Friday (October 11), which you can pre-save here. The singer’s team began erecting billboards in ‘Brat’’s famous lime green with names of artists like The 1975, Bon Iver and Tinashe, before she confirmed the tracklist with fans at her show in Orlando, Florida on Sunday (October 6) – part of her ongoing ‘SWEAT’ tour with Troye Sivan.

As well as the three artists above, Sivan is on the remix album too, as are names like Ariana Grande, The Japanese House and Julian Casablancas.

Once the ‘SWEAT‘ tour ends later this month, Charli will be back in her native UK for a run of shows – check out the full list of dates below and buy tickets here.