Brat summer continues with the release of Charli XCX‘s remix for “Guess” featuring Billie Eilish.
The Aidan Zamiri-directed video for the song sees Charli and Billie taking the lyric “You wanna guess the color of my underwear” literally, with both climbing up a mountain of lingerie and Eilish driving a bulldozer carrying loads of laundry.
Charli first teased the “Guess” remix earlier this week by posting a photo of her standing with the guest artist, cropping out their faces. Though no singer was named, fans were quick to deduce that the mystery musician was Eilish based on the rings she was wearing in the picture, as she’d had on the same ones during her Chicken Shop interview with Amelia Dimoldenberg that posted two weeks ago.
Eilish’s brother and collaborator Finneas confirmed his participation in the song earlier today, reposting a video teaser from Charli on Instagram and captioning it, “This was like, too much fun to make.” Fans noted that Eilish and Finneas were potentially hinting at the Charli collaboration during a recent interview with Zane Lowe, with Eilish stating that it was her first time working with another artist in many years.
“I was really nervous, because I haven’t worked with anyone but Finneas in six years, and I hated it back in the day,” said Eilish. Finneas added, “Billie was sitting and telling me why she loved this one artist, and we were watching their music videos together and I know them, and I was texting them like, ‘We’re sitting here watching your stuff, it’s so good.’ They were like, ‘I’m in L.A.’ I was like, ‘You want to do a day?’”
It’s been a big summer thus far for Charli, who released her sixth album “Brat” last month. In addition to putting out a deluxe edition of the record with three new songs, including “Guess,” she’s dropped numerous remixes of songs off the project, tapping Addison Rae and A.G. Cook for “Von Dutch,” Robyn and Yung Lean for “360,” and Lorde for “Girl, So Confusing.” The latter song came about after Charli dropped its original version where she expressed her frustration with an unnamed pop star. After she sent a voice note to Lorde explaining it was about her, the New Zealand artist hopped on the track and, as she put it, they worked it out on the remix.
Beyond the album itself, “Brat” has become a cultural moment. Having a “brat summer” is a lifestyle — wearing lime green, making DIY clothes to mimic the album cover, hitting the club, being confident and living loudly are just a few signifiers. It’s become so ubiquitous that, shortly after President Joe Biden withdrew his reelection campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris stepped up to fill his shoes, Charli tweeted, “Kamala IS brat,” giving Harris her coveted endorsement.
Harris’ campaign responded on its @KamalaHQ profile page, changing its header banner to “kamala hq” in black text over a green background — a nod to the simple yet effective cover art for Charli’s “Brat.”
Charli is currently planning to transition from brat summer to sweaty fall, as she’s hitting the road with Troye Sivan for their joint Sweat tour. The trek kicks off on September 14 in Detroit, with dates scheduled until its conclusion at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on October 23.