{"id":16544,"date":"2026-07-25T07:21:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16544"},"modified":"2026-07-25T07:21:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T02:21:11","slug":"charli-xcx-takes-a-sharp-turn-with-music-fashion-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=16544","title":{"rendered":"Charli xcx Takes a Sharp Turn with Music, Fashion, Film"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/story\/charli-xcx-interview?srsltid=AfmBOooDbwc9mN81FJxkNLTZ3WznJArE3pTIEA5CmHWlAJj4HIiR8CXB\" class=\"text link\">Charli XCX<\/a> walked out for her 2025 Coachella set wearing a sash that said \u201cMiss Should Be Headliner,\u201d all the club kids, pop-girlies, and music nerds in the crowd\u2014many of them dressed exactly like Charli\u2014lost it. The Coachella performance was the height, and supposed end, of Brat summer\u2014a global cultural phenomenon so big that Kamala Harris co-opted it during her presidential campaign.<\/p>\n<p>After the music stopped, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OgC0AOE2bdc\" class=\"text link\">Charli<\/a> stood still as giant screens flashed a contentious inner-monologue. \u201cDoes this mean that Brat Summer is finally over? Idk? Maybe? Wait, was it? No?? Yeah cuz duh it was already over like last year. Wait. Was it? NO??? I don\u2019t know who I am if it\u2019s over??? F\u2013KKKKKKKK.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Beneath that campy meta-commentary lies real anxiety. In her film <em>The Moment<\/em> and in interviews joking about escaping \u201cKhia Asylum\u201d\u2014 the internet\u2019s imaginary jail for past-their-prime pop-stars\u2014Charli also acknowledged the fear that her biggest breakthrough could also mark its peak; that she\u2019ll forever be known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/style\/story\/charli-xcx-met-gala-2026\" class=\"text link\">Brat girl<\/a>. It\u2019s a valid concern considering new releases from female pop stars are often treated as evidence that they\u2019ve lost their mojo.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iJvQnD cOWUYC asset-embed\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fnduJP iaVSwI asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kFnjvc eKnjjD responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jKunQM gjCCFj AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Charli XCX attends at Paris Fashion Week on June 23 2026 in Paris France.\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_120,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 120w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_240,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_320,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 320w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_640,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 640w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_960,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 960w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_1280,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_1600,c_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3803247fd95bc8b06\/master\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/GettyImages-2282962137.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"CaptionWrapper-bpPcvW kzGGxb caption AssetEmbedCaption-eZIMNW gMgneI asset-embed__caption\" data-testid=\"caption-wrapper\"><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionText-cQpRdU klhnDX hbiMYj caption__text\"><\/p>\n<p>Charli XCX attends at Paris Fashion Week on June 23, 2026 in Paris, France.<\/p>\n<p><\/span><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionCredit-cUgOGk gsdIcD hRFzlA caption__credit\">Aurore Marechal\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Charli\u2019s fear response is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/culture\/story\/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-album-cover\" class=\"text link\"><em>Music, Fashion, Film<\/em><\/a>, the album released Friday. Instead of making <em>Brat 2.0<\/em>, she\u2019s betting that longevity comes from reinvention. Like Bob Dylan abandoning folk, Bruce Springsteen following <em>The River<\/em> with the lo-fi acoustic release <em>Nebraska<\/em>, or Weezer swerving from the <em>Blue Album<\/em> to <em>Pinkerton<\/em>, Charli is transitioning to a much smoother, softer, more alt-rock sound compared to the electropunk and techno-inspired beats that defined <em>Brat<\/em>. Don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s still hard\u2014in the British sense of the word.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Throughout the new album, Charli pokes fun at her attempted reinvention. \u201cI think the dance floor is dead \/ So now we\u2019re making rock music\u201d; she sings on the song \u201cRock Music\u201d. \u201cMy friend Rostam told me I dressed like a slut \/ So now I shop at A.P.C.,\u201d she says (name dropping the former Vampire Weekend musician) with a spoken word delivery in the spirit of Lou Reed over a post-punk guitar riff on \u201cWink, Wink.\u201d She punctuates the song with, \u201cyeah, people can change.\u201d Yes they can, Charli. Her sardonic wit, which rivals that of LCD Soundsystem\u2019s James Murphy, Courtney Love and David Byrne, shines throughout the album. \u201cAnd maybe I fucked your dad\/Just kidding, I&#8217;m only saying that for effect,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Like Charli was on <em>Brat<\/em>, she continues to be incredibly introspective on the new album. On \u201cCamera,\u201d the 33-year-old wonders aloud whether her pursuit of on-screen attention is getting lamer as she ages. She\u2019s also added a political edge to her lyrics\u2014\u201cSS26\u201d is a bit apocalyptic: \u201cWe\u2019re walking on a runway that goes straight to hell\/Nothing\u2019s gonna save us, not music, fashion or film.\u201d She jokes on that track that her Indian background gives her a unique selling proposition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Charli XCX walked out for her 2025 Coachella set wearing a sash that said \u201cMiss Should Be Headliner,\u201d all the club kids, pop-girlies, and music nerds in the crowd\u2014many of them dressed exactly like Charli\u2014lost it. The Coachella performance was the height, and supposed end, of Brat summer\u2014a global cultural phenomenon so big that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media.vanityfair.com\/photos\/6a6284b3ff162b3b7ff5ce8f\/16:9\/w_1280,c_limit\/GettyImages-2223286859.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-gossip"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}