Twenty twenty-four, the internet declared very quickly after the touch-paper June release of Charli xcx’s brat, was the year of brat summer – drink spilling, cig smoking, and chaos merchantry in wraparound sunglasses, with a little bit of time for reflection on life and love on the night bus between parties.
The album and all it symbolises became a total cultural phenomenon, resonating with restless post-Covid audiences in a way that few, including Charli xcx, could have predicted. A year later, its behemothic impact can still be felt, proven as 35,000 people pack into east London’s Victoria Park for xcx’s PartyGirl edition of Lido Festival, with a hand-picked lineup including AG Cook, Magdalena Bay, The Dare, 070 Shake and Bladee.
