On Friday, Charli XCX kicked off her new musical era with “Rock Music.” Today, she pivots almost immediately with the release of the B-side, “I Keep Thinking About You Every Single Day And Night.”
If we were to believe “Rock Music,” then the Brat superstar was headed toward the realm of rage-baiting pop-punk. Musically speaking, “I Keep Thinking…,” sees XCX quickly return to the realm of more understated, ’90s-adjacent club music. Lyrically, though, she’s very much swimming in the same rage-inducing deep end as she stokes listeners’ moods with lines like, “Now I’m wondering if I maybe could be gay/But come on, look at me, I’m probably not.”
Similarly, the track features the line, “I’ve always wondered if you were actually gay/ Or if that’s somеthing you just say for your career.” Who precisely could XCX be talking about? Perhaps Taylor Swift? The two previously had beef in 2024-2025 after exchanging rather personal “diss” tracks — “Sympathy is a knife” (from Charli’s Brat) followed by “Actually Romantic” (off Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl). But we’ll ultimately let you decide.
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Either way, is one of pop music’s biggest names engaging in queer-colored ragebaiting a good look? On paper, no. But it helps to look at “Rock Music” and “I Keep Thinking…” collectively. The former track is clearly a middle finger of sorts, a declaration that (as put best by our own Paolo Ragusa) none of it’s really all that deep. Factor in the faux controversy hinted at with this latest track, and that XCX told us to “rip it ourselves” from her B-sides Instagram account, and the message is even clearer: it’s all mostly for the LOLZ. Or, as much as you think they’re beefing, XCX is far too busy and unconcerned, and this is all a big old gag for her entertainment. Pop music should always be fun, and if you can’t muster some joy/amusement, then maybe get out entirely.
Check out the song below, which is accompanied by a Aidan Zamiri-shot black-and-white video that’s equal parts silly and sensuous. It’s perhaps the strongest single example of my argument, and proof that XCX’s latest era may be more bold, bratty, and deliciously fun than ever before.
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