Sorry, Charli xcx and Ford Motor Co. will not be sharing a moment.
The “Brat” hitmaker announced on Monday that her new album, “Music, Fashion, Film” will be released on July 24. The title reveal shut down a popular, if half-joking, fan theory that her new album would be named “Ford,” after the Dearborn automaker.
Why “Ford?” Glad you asked.
On May 26, a Charli xcx fan who goes by @hayley_xcx posted on X that Charli’s new album would be called “Ford” because “this album is supposed to be kind of anti brat and ford in reverse is brat.”
Ford backwards is clearly “drof,” so how is it Brat? Well, if you take the classic Ford logo…
… and reverse it, well, you can kind of get a cursive “brat” out of it.
Furthering the “Ford” theory, Charli xcx has a habit of singing about and making references to cars.
She named her 2016 EP “Vroom Vroom,” her 2022 album is named “Crash” (and has her on a car’s hood on its cover), and her song from 2023’s “Barbie” soundtrack is called “Speed Drive,” for starters.
An xcx fan broke down all of the pop singer’s car references in a 2024 Reddit post and found Charli has made references to cars in 40 of her songs.
Clearly leaning into the theory, last week Charli took to X and posted a picture of a Ford — in this case, a late ’00s Ford Mondeo, a European model.
This really revved up the “Ford” frenzy, but alas, there was no gas in the tank.
In a conversation on Monday with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Charli discussed the Ford theories.
“We were just clearing up, the album is not called ‘Ford?'” Lowe asked the 33-year-old pop singer.
“No, but I had to, like, rock with that for a minute, because the fans are into it,” she said. “And they’re just so funny, so I thought I’d let them have it, you know?”
Lowe responded, “you’ve done your ‘Vroom Vroom’ era, man. It’s not like, we’re not going back to cars right now. We’re somewhere else.”
“Not yet,” Charli said. “No vehicle mentions on this record, I don’t think.”
Crash and burn, but there’s always next time.
Charli has so far released two singles from “Music, Fashion, Film.” First single “Rock Music” was released May 8, and the follow-up, “SS26,” was unveiled May 21.
The title “Music, Fashion, Film” comes from a reference in “SS26” — “Spring, summer ’26, when the world is gonna end, no hope for any of it/ Yeah, we’re walkin’ on a runway that goes straight to hell, nothing’s gonna save us, not music, fashion or film” goes the chorus — and the album cover features John Cale, Marc Jacobs and Martin Scorsese, representing the worlds of music, fashion and film.
Charli xcx kicked off her “Sweat” tour with Troye Sivan in September 2024 at Little Caesars Arena.
agraham@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: No, Charli xcx will not be naming her new album ‘Ford’
Reporting by Adam Graham, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
