CLUB CLASSICS
Club culture reimagined with Charli XCX
by Kiana Golchin
The underground is surfacing, with Boiler Rooms and BRAT leading the charge. Boiler Room sets, known for their raw and unfiltered energy, have become the new standard for club culture, blending live DJ performances with intimate and chaotic environments. The Boiler Room is an underground, live DJ set with locations across the globe, known for its DJ booth centered in the middle of a small venue. What started out as a series of live-streamed DJ sets in small, dimly lit rooms has evolved into the ideal night out for 20-something-year-old Brooklynites. Charli XCX, with her messy, experimental pop sound, has been leading this DIY vibe since her first Boiler Room in 2020, and she often brings out other pop culture icons during these sets; Julia Fox, Addison Rae, and Shygirl have all made well-adored appearances.
Charli’s BRAT album dominated this summer—cheekily denoted as “brat summer”— with songs like “Apple” and “365” fueling viral TikTok trends and creating a soundtrack for a season defined by its carefree and energetic nature. The wave of love for BRAT wasn’t just from fans; brands quickly jumped on the trend and started launching campaigns that referenced Charli XCX. Even Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign hopped onto the wave, proving just how far the scope of BRAT’s influence reached.
Artists like The Dare and Troye Sivan are diving into this scene by Charli’s side, incorporating its dirty, gritty aesthetic into their music. The Dare, having produced the track “Guess” on Charli XCX’s BRAT album, mixes dance-punk with pulsing beats that feel straight out of a late-night Boiler Room set. His new album, What’s Wrong With New York?, captures the no-rules spirit of underground rave culture. Troye Sivan's latest creations, like his feature on Charli XCX’s song “Talk” and their co-headlining tour titled “Sweat,” add a sleeker pop twist to the vibe of Boiler Room culture, combining euphoric and polished production with the electric pulses of club dance music. They’re crafting a new wave of club classics that mix the edge and distinctiveness of underground sounds with mainstream appeal.
Brat summer might be over, but Brat wasn’t just a trend—it's become a shift in how music is experienced. The Boiler Room and DJs of the present have redefined what it means to truly connect to music in real-time, from packed clubs to global live streams. It is the perfect host for the evolution of club music, where the lines between pop, rave, and experimental genres blur to create something new and undeniably intoxicating.
Comentarios