Charli xcx follows Brat with her most reflective album yet

Charli xcx follows Brat with her most reflective album yet: Music, Fashion, Film Fri 24 Jul 2026 at 4:41am Charli xcx isn't afraid to turn the lens on herself, bringing her existence as an artist, performer and human into sharp focus. But on her new album Music, Fashion, Film, her gaze extends beyond her own image. Instead, the British artist dissects and discusses the enduring legacy of art and artists, and how creative figures are remembered long after their moment has passed. The 33-year-old star has been inescapable for the past few years. After a lauded performance at the 2023 Coachella Festival, she then dabbled in composing for films, including Bottoms, Bodies Bodies Bodies, and Barbie. Then came Brat summer. Her seventh album Brat would see Charli become a household name. She broke audience records at the taste-making Boiler Room club and live stream. The video for single 360 assembled a cross-generational council of "It Girls" like Julia Fox, Chloë Sevigny, Gabbriette, Rachel Sennott, Emma Chamberlain, Alex Consani, Hari Nef, Chloe Cherry and Richie Shazam. A deluxe version of Brat with carefully curated remixes, collaborations and features saw the acid-green album achieve critical acclaim. Even 2024 US presidential candidate Kamala Harris got on board. Brat cemented Charli's party girl legacy set in the concrete floors and bathroom doors of nightclubs across the globe. "I think the Charli of 2007 would just be really grateful that I was making my eighth record," Charli xcx tells triple j Breakfast's Abby and Tyrone. "I think when I started I never really had the intention of kind of like 'I'm gonna make eight records'. "I didn't know much about the music industry at all when I first started making music, I just wanted to do it. "I had a real passion for making music, but I wasn't having the foresight of a long career." In the afterglow of Brat, Charli's work in the film industry blossomed. She produced her own mockumentary-style film, The Moment, and starred in indie films like Erupcja and 100 Nights of Hero. Her collaboration with John Cale of The Velvet Underground on gothic industrial song House was the lead single for Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights, helping set the tone for the film. It also established that Charli knows game when it comes to art and its creators. It laid the foundations for her next body of work. Creating without distraction The visual world of her new album Music, Fashion, Film was introduced with the black and white film clip for Rock Music, a stark difference to the high-saturation visuals of Charli's previous work. She wanted the focus on the art form, without the distractions of bright lights and rich colours, and made the intentional move to be more offline while producing the album. "I think historically, I've been a very online artist," she says. "So, I think when I say this, I understand that some people don't believe me, but I have this year been trying to take a bit more of a step off the internet. "That doesn't always work, you know? Sometimes I am still googling myself. This year I have been a lot more offline than in previous times and that's really nice and good for anyone. "I want to do things that fulfil me as an artist and a person. And I think sometimes it's hard to follow that inner voice. There are a lot of distractions around." Lasting legacies Charli's recognition of the greats and their legacies permeate through the album. From the cover art featuring John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese, three legends of their craft representing the three titular art forms, to a recorded conversation with David Cronenberg closing out final song No One Lasts Forever. The conversation is the only feature on the record, shifting away from the collaboration-heavy, all-in approach of Brat. But how does the It Girl of experimental pop music link up with the seminal originator of film's body horror genre? "I went to Toronto to sit down with him and record him, and we spoke for like an hour," she said. "We recorded [the] conversation and chose the parts that felt most related to the song. But the entire conversation itself is so interesting. He's such an interesting person and smart and kind. I could listen to him talk forever. "I think he has a really interesting perspective on legacy and on art and artist, so I really wanted him to be a part of this song because I knew that he would just speak so effortlessly about it." The result, the closing moment of her eighth album, is like the finishing touch on a director's cut. Cronenberg's thoughts marry with the track seamlessly, as if he had a click track in his ear during the conversation. Turns out he was just incredibly in sync with Charli's work. "What's really crazy is he actually spoke in tune of the song," Charli says. "We didn't record with the song underneath, we were just having a conversation that we recorded. "When we got the vocal and went to the studio, we were like, 'Oh my God, he's actually totally in tune with the song without ever even having like heard it the day that we wrote it'. "I was like, 'OK, he is a genius.'" What's next for Charli xcx? Looking ahead, Charli xcx has plans to extend her own legacy. She might be thinking about future projects — "an album called Best Friends and all the songs [are] about my friends" — but after the relentless past few years, she knows she desperately needs to pause. When she makes it back to Australia, Charli xcx has made it clear that she wants to have another swing at triple j's Like A Version. "I remember when I did that last time I had a busted hairstyle and it still really haunts me," she said. "Sometimes I'll see videos of me doing that and my fringe is kind of like … up. Like, I look insane. Maybe we need a redo where I look hotter." Charli xcx's eighth studio album Music, Fashion, Film is out now. Hear Abby and Tyrone on triple j Breakfast weekday mornings from 6am. [Image text:] Girl. so confusing brat