Pop icon Charli XCX is throwing herself back into the limelight once again for the much-anticipated launch of her BRAT album coming June 7th of this year. Whilst once being known for her chart-topping pop hits such as ‘Boom Clap’ and ‘I Love it’, her sixth studio album is entering a new realm of ravey ‘club rat’ music that the internet is already obsessed with.
XCX has been teasing this album for a while, posting cryptic messages on her private Instagram account @360_brat. The locked account has now amassed just under 100k followers and has been secretly hinting at her next moves and album details for almost a year. Her dedicated fans have been hooked on her every post, but these secretive movements have started to attract a wider audience.
It’s no secret that we want what we can’t have, and Charli has used this to her advantage. The idea of being in an exclusive club has seemed to excite her growing fanbase and has skyrocketed with her many other envious marketing tactics. Earlier this year, @360_brat posted an ominous phone number to its Instagram story which led to a Whatsapp chat that sent selfies, presale links and exclusive messages to her BRAT club. The number left many fans on the edge of their seats, anxiously waiting for concert ticket links or album updates. When Charli posted a snippet of her upcoming single ‘Von Dutch’, her fans were obsessed, but it was not until almost a week later that the rest of the internet heard it.
The 10-second clip of ‘Von Dutch’ blew up on Tiktok and has now been used for over 6000 videos on the app. Charli released the single on the 2nd February and has been streamed on Spotify over 18 million times. This not only built excitement for the album launch but grew sales too. On the 30th January, Charli posted that she would be hosting a Boiler Room set; no location was mentioned, nothing. Despite this, over 25,000 people RSVP’d for the event, and only 400 got in. She later announced a tour for 7 intimate venues with minuscule 2000 people capacities; which naturally sold out in minutes. It seems impossible to get your hands on a BRAT tour ticket, and we think that is exactly what Charli wants. The growing hype around BRAT and its exclusive accounts has allowed fans to feel connected to the artist and generate an unmatched excitement for Charli’s new music endeavour.
On Friday 12th April, the general sale for her UK tour was released (not without giving her Whatsapp fans a presale link before, of course), and we can only imagine that everything has been building up to this. The tour will be her biggest UK headlining show to date and tickets are quickly selling out as new and old fans are racing to get their hands on the highly anticipated event. Fans are hungry for the unhinged, party-girl vibes that Charli is already giving through her social media pages and the exclusive underground sets that everyone is desperate to attend.
It is unsure what Charli is plotting next, but we are certain that by June 7th she will have the whole internet waiting on her next move.
