Charli XCX has launched her next musical era with the release of a new single titled “Rock Music.”

The song arrives only months after her last release, Wuthering Heights , which was a very dramatic, very serious companion album to Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation and a major switch-up from her now-seminal 2024 album Brat . With “Rock Music,” it seems that Charli has opted for yet another left turn: “I think the dance floor is dead, so now we’re making rock music,” Charli sings on the new track, a lyric that made waves after she revealed it in a recent feature with British Vogue.

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So, is “Rock Music” Charli’s pop-punk rebirth? Is she doing Brat but with guitars? Is this all commentary on how pop stars decide they can just make music in other genres like they’re changing clothes — the age-old ‘I’ve played guitar this whole time’ rebrand packaged with a wink?…