Charli XCX almost named the final ‘Music, Fashion, Film’ song ‘Brat’
Charli XCX has admitted that she almost called the very last song on her latest album, Music, Fashion, Film, ‘Brat’.
On July 24th, Charli XCX followed up the storming viral success of her 2024 album Brat with Music, Fashion, Film, packaged in a star-studded cover including John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese to embody her main concerns on the album.
When unveiling the official tracklist, the Essex-born star revealed that the project would contain only one collaboration, with filmmaker David Cronenberg on the last track of the album, ‘No One Lasts Forever’, which is officially the longest track she has ever released.
The closer is a rumination on mortality, and contains stirring lyrics such as, “That’s why I’m not scared of anyone, because nothing’s gonna last forever; but you need to discover that feeling of the crushing highs and lows of ego.”
Newly speaking on Tape Notes alongside her musical collaborators A G Cook and Finn Keane, Charli XCX reminisced on how the track came about.
She shared, “This was a very in-the-moment track; like, we were all in Paris together, we went out, we had this night with this girl, and the song was written the next day.”
However, the ‘Rock Music’ singer mused, “But actually, before all of that, we had this conversation about wanting to do one very long song at the end of the album.”
She went on, “And then there was a moment when we were like… ‘Should we call it ‘Brat’?’ Do you remember this?”
When Keane agreed, adding that the idea was “so crazy,” the star went on, “We were talking about how it should be the most electronic-leaning track and play a bit into that. Obviously, it ended up a little different.”
Far Out gave the star’s latest album a two-star review, observing, “There’s wry self-awareness, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for substance. Just as the ‘rock’ amid the rave shouldn’t be mistaken for reinvention. If you’re a teenager discovering this aesthetic for the first time, then you might find it thrilling.”
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