Charli XCX swerves into rock with new single ‘Rock Music'

Charli XCX, fresh off the global success of her 2024 album Brat, has unveiled a new single that signals a sharp stylistic turn.

Rock Music, released Friday, is a two minute burst of guitar driven energy that recalls Hole’s Celebrity Skin and Elastica’s Connection.

The track arrives with a black and white video featuring a chaotic moshpit and surreal imagery including Charli chain smoking multiple cigarettes.

It’s a deliberate departure from the neon green “Brat summer” aesthetic that dominated last year’s pop landscape.

“I think the dance floor is dead… so now we’re making rock music,” Charli told Vogue last month.

She described the project as her playful take on analogue sounds, ensuring “nothing felt too macho.”

Charli has experimented with heavier influences before.

Her Coachella set in 2025 spotlighted hardcore band Turnstile, and billboards teasing a Brat remix album once linked her name to Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst.

While those collaborations never materialized, Rock Music makes clear she’s comfortable bending pop into noisier, more abrasive shapes.

The single is expected to lead into her next album, which she insists is not a traditional rock record but rather an experiment in perspective.

With Brat having been named Album of the Year by outlets from Rolling Stone to The Guardian, Charli’s pivot suggests she’s intent on keeping audiences guessing and challenging pop’s boundaries once again.