Ever wonder how Charli XCX seemed to be everything, everywhere all at once during 2024’s “Brat Summer”? It was an army of clones.
Or, at least, that’s the suggestion in a new music video for the song “Residue” from Charli’s frequent collaborator, producer A.G. Cook, released on Tuesday. The track is tied to the singer’s upcoming film The Moment, which Charli described as a “tour mockumentary” at the movie’s premiere at the Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah over the weekend. Set for nationwide release on Feb. 6, the movie is directed by Aidan Zamiri, who also directed the video for “Residue.”
The music video shows the singer stomping through a dimly-lit warehouse building, the camera catching glimpses of her lookalikes in the shadows. She bypasses heaps of plastic-wrapped Brat merch that is stacked in the corners until she arrives at a set of heavy double doors.
The room is empty apart from dozens of Charli-fied clones, who begin whipping their long dark tresses around as lyrics “bumping that” and “365 party girl” flash across a trance-inducing screen. As the mayhem subsides, a silhouette of a lone Charli remains. But as the camera comes closer, it’s revealed to be Kylie Jenner.
Jenner also makes a cameo in The Moment, and despite her limited screen time, has earned her high praise from critics. Described as the “best scene in the move,” Vulture’s Jason P. Frank wrote that the makeup billionaire “has legitimate chops as a comic actress.”
The Moment is Charli’s meta way of bidding goodbye to her slime green era that reinvigorated her career, as she looks ahead to new projects, including her forthcoming companion album to Wuthering Heights. Out Feb. 13, it’s tied to director Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s most famous and only book.
“I’m really wanting Brat to stop, and actually sort of really pivot away from it as far away as possible,” Charli said at a Sundance Q&A. “It’s not because I don’t love it. It’s just that as artists, you wanna challenge yourself … totally switch the creative soup you’re in, and live in a different bowl for a while.”
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From Rolling Stone US
