"Spring Breakers" / "Guess" by Charli xcx // Urban Outfitters 2024 Singles Day Exclusive 7" vinyl + song reviews
Brat summer has just been the gift that has kept on giving! Shortly after Charli xcx's iconic album BRAT was released in June 2024, Charli put out the deluxe version titled brat and it's the same, but there's three more songs, so it's not - which is possibly one of the best album titles ever. She's nothing if not straightforward! Those three songs were really great additions to the album and I love that she released them so soon after the standard BRAT. For Urban Outfitters' annual Singles Day vinyl event every November, one of the limited edition releases was this special 7" single featuring two of the three bonus tracks on it - "Guess" and "Spring Breakers".
I love having this vinyl in my collection to commemorate what a massive year BRAT had in 2024, especially since it includes two of my favorite songs. It was limited to 5,000 copies and is a classic black pressing, sold exclusively at Urban Outfitters. This is one of many 7" singles she released for the BRAT era, but I believe they are all similarly designed as well. This is the only BRAT single I have in my collection currently, but I would love to add some more if they were to ever restock. This overall has a very simplistic and kind of industrial vibe to the design, almost as if a club DJ would use something like this in their set. The disc itself is also very minimalist, with no markings at all on either side of the center label. Like all of the vinyl from the BRAT era, there is a sticker closing the record that needs to be cut open very carefully to open. It comes in a clear PVC sleeve with bold typography printed on it, along with a silver paper insert. I do wish it had a regular photo sleeve instead, as I'm generally not a fan of picture disc sleeves. I guess it does match the overall aesthetic she was going for with this era, though.
Side A features the fun and suggestive "Guess". It was the first song she collaborated with rising New York-based producer The Dare. It very much fits into the universe of both BRAT and The Dare's solo music too, with it being very wild and explicit party music. I have loved the music they've made together and would love to see them continue to collaborate on whatever the next chapter brings for Charli musically. She sings, "You wanna guess the color of my underwear, really wanna know what I got goin on down there". It's very playful lyrically and seamlessly blends both of the distinct New York and London club cultures into one.
"Guess" went on to be the biggest hit of the album after she remixed it with Billie Eilish, but this particular pressing features only the standard version of the song with just Charli. It's kind of weird to listen to the original version now after how incredible the collaboration is and all of the new production and lyrics that were added - like the "eat it up for lunch" line, as well as the entirety of Billie's verse and the iconic closing verse. I still love the original too, but the remixes from BRAT are all so incredible and really gave each song a new life. The remixed version of "Guess" featuring Billie is soon going to be released as a 2025 Record Store Day exclusive 7" vinyl, which I am very excited about adding to my collection too!
Side B features one of my favorite songs from BRAT, "Spring Breakers", which I have been obsessed ever since she first played it at her first Boiler Room set in New York City. That was long before the album was released, and I couldn't wait to play the studio version on repeat. I was disappointed when it wasn't announced to be on the track list of the standard album, but knew it was only a matter of time until this song was officially released. Thankfully we didn't need to wait too long for it! It is such an iconic way to end the album, simply just for how crazy it is for a pop star to be making a song like this in the first place.
It takes influence from the 2012 film of the same name, while also sampling "Everytime" by Britney Spears, a song that fittingly also played a major role in that film. The energy is so wild and so brat in the most insanely unhinged way. The Britney sample just makes it even better, this is truly one of the best uses of a pop sample I have ever heard. "Hi, it's me, you're all in danger, never get invited 'cause I'm such a hater, got my finger on the detonator, crazy girl shit, gonna go Spring Breakers," she sings in the iconic opening chorus. She is poking fun at The Grammy's snubbing her every year, likely due to her blunt refusal to play into the game The Recording Academy wants artists to play to get nominated.
"Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom, in a big pink truck, February 10th and I'm gonna pull up, hey, Staples Center, what the fuck is up? Yеah, I'm parked outside watching all the girls strut, got thеir custom on, hit the worst dressed list, yeah, you better not slide, not slip, not trip," she sings in the iconic first verse. She threatens to "go Spring Breakers" if she didn't get nominated for a Grammy this year - "I poured a load of gasoline on the carpet, lit a cigarette, took a drag, then I just flicked it, place went boom, boom, boom, boom, clap," she continues in the first verse. I love the call-back to her past work with the "Vroom Vroom" and "Boom Clap" references, both of which served as two very pivotal parts of her career.
Funny enough, BRAT actually ended up being the first time that Charli was ever nominated for a Grammy as a solo artist - it's crazy how that works out and that recognition was long overdue! She was one of the most nominated artists at the 2025 Grammy's, with eight nominations total. BRAT won for Best Dance/Electronic Album, Best Recording Package for the physical editions of the album, and "Von dutch" won for Best Dance Pop Recording. She also performed a medley of "Von dutch" and "Guess" at the ceremony, but I do wish she also performed a bit of "Springs Breakers" too - I mean, it was literally made to be performed there! I even said back in my initial review of BRAT that there is no way she would ever be able to perform that song at the Grammy's, but how iconic would it have been if she did!?
"On the flip side, I could talk real, real nice, maybe if you give me that prize, you might see a tear from my eye, might change my whole damn life," she switches up in the second verse, "I'd maybe thank God on the stage, yeah, I swear I'd be so nice, no, I'd never misbehave". This song is just so quintessentially Charli to me and it was the perfect way to officially close out the album. It is wild, unhinged pop perfection and I'm so obsessed with it!
Thanks for reading! I thought today would especially be the perfect time to share this vinyl in my collection, as Charli specifically shouts out February 10th in "Spring Breakers", along with it being just a week after Charli won her first three Grammy's ever for BRAT! If you're interested in reading more, check out my full review of Charli xcx's legendary BRAT album, as well as my review of the remix album brat and it's completely different, but also still brat. I also ranked BRAT at the top of my favorite albums of 2024 list, which I would love for you to check out as well if you're looking for more new music recommendations. Many more are linked below and coming soon! 💚
All photos are my own!
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