Lorde was also the one who suggested they work it out on the remix
Charli xcx admitted that she didn’t give Lorde a heads-up about her Brat song “girl, so confusing” until the day before the album was released.
In a vulnerable new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, the “Good Ones” musician, 32, reflected on the massive success of Brat and almost losing contact with the “Ribs” artist, 27.
“I was ready for her to never speak to me again. That could have been an outcome,” Charli said of the song “girl, so confusing.” In the song, she sings about their relationship: “Sometimes I think I might hate you / Maybe you just wanna be me” and “People say we’re alike / They say we’ve got the same hair / We talk about making music / But I don’t know if it’s honest.”
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The song refers to her conflicting feelings about Lorde, born Ella Yelich-O’Connor, which she opened up about in a May interview with Rolling Stone UK, saying, “I was super jealous of the success that [“Royals”] got, and that Ella got.”
Added Charli, “You piece all this stuff together in your brain, like: ‘She was into my music. She had big hair; I had big hair. She wore black lipstick; I once wore black lipstick.’ You create these parallels and think, ‘Well, that could have been me.'”
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Realizing that the album would be out that Friday in the United States, Charli called Lorde to explain the song before she could hear it.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to tell you about this song.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, I’ve heard it,'” the “Apple” singer recalled on Apple Music 1. “I was like, ‘How have you heard it? It’s not out til tomorrow.'”
But because Lorde lives in New Zealand, she got the album a day early due to the time difference. The “Green Light” singer also knew which song Charli was referring to: “She was like, ‘I can guess which one it is.’ And so I was like, ‘F—.’ But she was so cool, and I was like … We sent these voice notes back and forth.”
As for what ended up becoming the remix, Charli said it was all Lorde’s idea. “She was like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I did this response?’ And I was like, ‘Oh, my God. I can’t believe this is happening. Yes.’ And it was so quick,” the singer told Lowe. “I mean, she said that on I think the Friday, and she sent me the thing, the verse by Monday.”
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Lorde hopped on the remix to explain her side of the story: “Well, honestly, I was speechless / When I woke up to your voice note / You told me how you’d been feeling / Let’s work it out on the remix.”
She also explained her struggle with body dysmorphia, singing, “I was so lost in my head / And scared to be in your pictures / ‘Cause for the last couple years / I’ve been at war with my body / I tried to starve myself thinner / And then I gained all the weight back.”
In late September, Lorde joined Charli at the New York stop of her sold-out Brat tour to perform the remix.
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Charli’s massive Brat remix album, Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat, is due this Friday, Oct. 11. Following a series of neon green billboards with reversed text of some artists including Bon Iver, Ariana Grande, The 1975, and Tinashe, she “leaked” the tracklist on Monday, Oct. 7.
The full tracklisting also includes previously released remixes including “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish, “360” featuring Robyn and Yung Lean and “Talk Talk” featuring Troye Sivan.