Charli xcx is setting expectations early for her next era. In a new TikTok, the British pop star told fans her upcoming album will sound radically different from BRAT, openly acknowledging that not everyone who embraced her 2025 breakthrough may connect with what comes next.
“So I made an album and it’s really different from the last one,” she said in the clip. “Yeah, that is a fact. And I love it. And you might not. And that’s cool… Because that’s just what it is to have personal preferences.”
The message arrives as Charli continues teasing her next full-length project following the cultural dominance of BRAT, the album that reshaped her commercial standing. Her comments also expand on a series of reflective posts she shared on X in the days leading up to the release of new single “SS26,” which dropped May 21.
“excited for you all to hear this new music,” Charli wrote. “i can only ever make what feels true to me. i’m not thinking about anything else while i’m making it. not reception or audience or anything else. just my connection with it and whether it feels honest to me.”
Those posts quickly gained traction as listeners linked them to the divisive response surrounding “Rock Music,” the chaotic lead single released May 8. The track marked a sharp stylistic pivot, sparking intense debate across social media over whether Charli was deliberately distancing herself from the abrasive club-pop aesthetic that defined BRAT.
She later doubled down on that stance with two follow-up messages that made her intentions unmistakable. “if you get me, you get me and if you don’t, you don’t. and thats ok,” she wrote, before offering a broader reflection on making art in a hyper-scrutinized digital culture.
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