Long live Brat summer: after Charli XCX’s club-influenced sixth studio album Brat became one of the summer’s biggest releases, the British pop star is now teasing a new remix of Guess – a bonus track from Brat’s deluxe edition, titled: Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not.Better yet, all clues point to Billie Eilish being the mystery guest.
Posting on X last night (July 31), Charli XCX shared a picture of two unknown figures, with the shot zoomed in around their waists – one is wearing lacy underwear, and has an appropriately-located tattoo, saying ‘lower back tattoo’ in reference to a lyric from the song. The other is wearing low-slung baggy jeans, Pro 5 boxers, and a pair of rings that some eagle-eyed fans think they recognise. The shot is accompanied by a question – “Guess?”.
The original version of the song begins: “You wanna guess the color of my underwear / You wanna know what I got going on down there / Is it pretty in pink or all see-through? / Is it showing off my brand new lower back tattoo?”.
Guess ? pic.twitter.com/navFSQUAym
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 31, 2024
Internet fans immediately started sleuthing, and have matched up the rings on the hand of the mysterious baggy-jeaned individual with rings that Billie Eilish wore during an interview with Amelia Dimoldenberg on the YouTube show Chicken Shop Dates. According to these amateur detectives, the rings Eilish wears are worn on the same hand, and on the same fingers.
Known for her unique, ever-evolving style, Eilish is currently leaning into more of an early Noughties hip-hop look – as best-seen in the music video for her track Lunch, and indeed, in her interview with Dimoldenberg.
“Now, depending on who you ask, she’s gone full “hey mamas” lesbian or David Foster Wallace; to quote one viral tweet, “why she always dressed like [American rapper] Chingy,” wrote The Cut in an article titled, “How Billie Eilish's Style Changed After Hit Me Hard and Soft”.
There’s no official release date for the remix yet, but snippets of the song have become available via tear-off flyers that have popped up on lampposts in Los Angeles.
“If you call this number... you will get a snippet of "Guess" by Charli xcx and Billie Eilish!” wrote an Eilish fan site on X.
If you call this number (310-861-2831) you will get a snippet of "Guess" by Charli xcx and Billie Eilish! 🚨
— Billie Eilish Daily Spotify (@BillieSpotify_) August 1, 2024
pic.twitter.com/Lfuj5dwKph
Over the last couple of weeks, Charli XCX has become a household name after elements of her latest album were coopeted by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign team.
Although the 31-year-old British pop star has been producing hits since 2013 (her 2014 single Boom Clap went to number eight in the US) she was always viewed as more of an underground, alternative pop act.
This is the case no more, with Brat becoming the soundtrack of the summer: singles have become major hits, her music video for 360 featured half of the internet’s coolest girls (including Emma Chamberlain, Julia Fox and Chloë Sevigny) and her track Apple has its own designated TikTok dance which has been performed by stars such as Kim Gordon and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
The lime-green colour of Brat’s album cover has become a quick reference to ‘Brat summer’ – a state of consciousness related to freedom, making mistakes, being hot, having fun, and being a bit naughty. The lime green colour has been everywhere, from makeshift t-shirts, to Brat-coloured flags being flown at protests and festivals over the last two months.
Charli XCX has also hosted two internet-breaking Boiler Room sessions, released a popular remix track with American singer Addison Rae, and worked it out on the remix with Lorde, via another candid collaboration starring the Kiwi singer.
kamala IS brat
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024
Things only further intensified this last week after fans of Kamala Harris fully coopted Brat’s themes and songs from the album, making videos on TikTok celebrating the new presidential candidate.
After Charli posted “Kamala IS brat” on X on July 22, Harris’ campaign group turned their page banner the same lime-green colour, while news anchors and political pundits found themselves trying to explain the internet phenomenon of Brat. Surreal.
