Critics Are Calling Charli XCX's Brat Follow-Up Music, Fashion, Film 'Fascinating'

After the juggernaut success of her 2024 album Brat, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/news/charli-xcx/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charli XCX has taken a big swing with the follow-up Music, Fashion, Film – and it’s one that appears to have paid off if the first reviews of her new release are anything to go by.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/charli-xcx-new-album-brat-rock_uk_69e0e56ce4b09c96f93e93ec">It’s well-documented by now that Charli took a very markedly different approach when putting Music, Fashion, Film, together – swerving the dance floor-ready sounds of Brat for something more organic and inspired by rock (though she has https://www.nme.com/news/music/charli-xcx-on-if-music-fashion-film-is-really-a-rock-album-and-if-the-dancefloor-is-really-dead-3951651" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dismissed previous reports suggesting that her new material is a full-on “rock album”).

The finished product, released on Friday 24th July, sees the British star reflecting on some of the themes of Brat – including fame, success and identity – in new ways, with a series of rave reviews applauding its creativity and bravery, branding it “fascinating”, “triumphant” and proof of her status as one of pop’s “most interesting” figures.

And hey – the fact it’s also ruffled some feathers (more critical reviews have suggested it’s a “frustrating” and lacking in “substance”) is probably just a bonus to Charli, right?

Here’s what critics have had to say about Music, Fashion, Film so far…

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jul/24/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-review">The Guardian (5/5)

“Another gorgeously astute and disarmingly deep album about the instability of identity – not just as a vanguard songwriter striving for evolution, but how much we can ever know one another, or even ourselves [...] Does she contradict herself?

Absolutely.

Does that unsparing compulsion to lay it all out for us – the ego and self-hate; the defensiveness and chagrin – make Charli our most consistently bracing pop star?

God, yes.”

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film/">Pitchfork (8.2/10)

“You’ll need a little familiarity with Charli’s whole deal for this one – by now, you’re supposed to understand that she’s in on the joke [...] the left-footed charm of Music, Fashion, Film is that every readily identifiable flaw or fuckup is dead centre and obviously coordinated for effect [...] if you were to just read the lyrics you’d say this is one of the least written albums of all time.

But the record is full of little somatic thrills – doubled vocal harmonies, sharp dynamic contrasts – that come densely packed yet discrete and readily clippable.”

https://www.billboard.com/lists/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-best-songs/">Billboard

“The 11 new songs on Music, Fashion, Film are certainly more guitar-forward and less beat-heavy than past Charli sets – Brat in particular – but if you were expecting her to go full ’00s New York indie rock, well, there’s a Strokes album out this week for that [...] regardless of genre designation – which has never seemed overly important to Charli XCX in the first place – Music, Fashion, Film is another fascinating, addictive, singular catalogue entry in a body of work that is quickly becoming one of the 21st century’s most formidable.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-review-1235597074/">Rolling Stone (4/5)

“Over 10 succinct songs (and a comparatively sprawling closer), Charli and her writing and producing partners A.G. Cook and Finn Keane dissect the stardom she hates to love and loves to hate.”

https://variety.com/2026/music/reviews/charli-xcx-guitars-music-fashion-film-album-review-1236818593/">Variety

“Lyrically here she’s working a familiar combination of swagger and vulnerability [and] her trademark effervescent melodies shine through on many of the songs [...] the album is probably not what new or fair-weather fans might be expecting, and clearly Charli knows that as well.

“Because in strictly musical terms, separate from the videos and memes and cover photo, Music, Fashion, Film is a sonic palette cleanser to launch the post-Brat era in earnest — familiar but sufficiently distanced from the past, leaving her free to go basically anywhere she wants in her next chapter.”

https://www.thefader.com/2026/07/24/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-album-review">The Fader

“If this record is Charli XCX trolling the fans who only recently caught onto her charm, it’s a smart left turn for her to continue to carve out her own lane.

“Revisiting and twisting the early, more-rock, Sky Ferreria-esque sound she developed on early albums like True Romance and Sucker, she delivers a devilish, catchy new album.

By the end of Music, Fashion, Film’s short run time, Charli XCX is confidently seated in the director’s chair.”

https://diymag.com/review/album/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film">DIY (5/5)

“As a follow-up to Brat, it delivers a touching insight into the complex fallout of an unexpected movement built on hedonism.

“Could it have existed without Brat?

Absolutely not.

Perhaps more than any other record in recent memory, this is a sister album that brilliantly flips the script to thrive in its instinctive response to chaos.

A candid, introspective triumph that leaves just enough of the dance floor well and truly alive.”

https://observer.co.uk/music/pop/article/the-second-summer-of-charli-xcx">The Observer

“Glitches aside, the story of Music, Fashion, Film unfolds a little like the singer’s pandemic album, How I’m Feeling Now: a tightly themed work made in a compressed production time. 

“And although it sounds very little like Brat, it somehow still is brat.

Only two tracks exceed the three-minute mark, and mostly it is a brash and playful outing.

This is an artist who regards laurels like poison ivy and, because of that, should keep receiving them.”

https://apnews.com/article/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-review-a50817b0eff18e63cefe9825b921d4f7">AP

“Here and throughout her career, Charli XCX has existed at a crossroads, a cult-classic artist with pop-star recognition.

Music, Fashion, Film is yet another evolution in that teetering identity, a big swing if one that may go underappreciated by newer fans.

And if that’s the case, that’s a disappointment: Here and elsewhere, she remains one of the current moment’s most interesting pop contrarians.”

https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/albums/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-thrives-in-contradiction">The Line Of Best Fit (9/10)

“Her art dips into legacies without being beholden to them, rejecting references as soon as she invokes them, creating a playful contradiction that feels like her own post‑postmodern language.”

https://www.thetimes.com/culture/music/article/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-review-t25vqn23c">The Times (3/5)

“It’s refreshingly non-careerist of Charli XCX, aka 33-year-old Charlotte Aitchison, to return after the once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon of Brat with something that sounds as though it was thrown together over a few margaritas.

But it can also feel like a fashionable in-joke with one eye on the resurgence of indie rock – where that leaves the listener is anyone’s guess.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/charli-xcx-review-music-fashion-film-lyrics-b3020429.html">The Independent (3/5)

“There are moments of excellence in this perplexing, frustrating Brat follow-up [...] It’s strange to hear her sounding so unsure of herself after the neon-green boldness of Brat.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/news/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-album-ugly-vacuous-noise/">The Telegraph (2/5) 

“The end result is incoherence, and a clear split in quality.

On the one hand I’m impressed that Charli has had the courage to go down a different path and try something new.

On the other, I’m now Googling how to stop the ringing in my ears.”

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film-album-review/">Far Out (2/5)

“The emperor’s new album [...] 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.

But if Brat was the nightclub, then this feels like three hours into the after party that you never wanted to be at, full of posers chatting shite about ‘real incestuous vibes’.”

Charli XCX’s Music, Fashion, Film is available to download and stream now.