…I just pretend to be.
It’s not as destructive, however my boyfriend would probably disagree, considering the amount of times it drives him wildly mad.
Because the symptoms of this addiction (there are only two) are listening to Charli XCX’s new song Wink Wink and signing it suuuuuper loud all around the apartment at most times of the day.
I am a nightmare. I’m aware.
Anyway, it inspired me to write about it. Not only because Charli has been on a generational marketing run since the release of her sixth studio album, Brat, in 2024. The album which saw the star completely rebrand the chartreuse hue #8ACE00 and gave us a signed and sealed permission slip to smoke cigarettes all summer, drink Aperol Spritzes and be the last ones left at the function.
But the reason Brat resonated so deeply was more than the aesthetic superficiality of a party-girl lifestyle.
It worked because it delivered a raw, un-massaged structural honesty. It captured the exhausting rhythm of modern youth identity, forever oscillating between aggressive rebellion and crippling vulnerability.
Now, we have arrived at Wink Wink, the third single from her forthcoming album, Music, Fashion, Film. And for me, the sonic frequency has shifted into a completely new territory of resonance.
What makes Charli stand out as a modern artist is her ability to know exactly what her demographic needs to hear, at the exact time they need to hear it. And then marketing it with absolute precision. And this time around, she isn’t speaking to the active club-goer.
She is speaking directly to the ever-growing army of the world's retired party girls.
Charli is now making music for the women who used to run the night, but who are now negotiating stable relationships. Paying mortgages. Folding laundry. And trying to build a respectable life. And also, failing to do al of these things in a way that feels genuine or successful.
It’s an acknowledgment of the ageing process. When she sings “I’m not a bad girl anymore,” it carries a massive, knowing, self-referential smirk. It’s an internal code text for: I’m playing the adult game now, I’m being good, but if you know you know, wink wink.
It stands in stark contrast to the image Brat presented, while also satirising tropes popular in culture right now. It almost stands as an ironic and rebellious sketch of puritanism. A satire of the rise of the tradwife, which she comically portrays in the music video.
This is the ultimate evolution of brand alignment.
I’ve seen a lot of pop stars and consumer brands make the fatal mistake of trying to freeze their target audience in a perpetual state of youth. They keep selling the same shallow, club-heavy party aesthetics long after their core community has moved on to domestic life. And it results in a product that feels increasingly hollow and out-of-touch.
Charli is choosing to let us in to her newfound world. Because she knows in one way or another, we are sharing a similar experience.
Understanding that you don’t have to completely erase your past or pretend to be an entirely different, sanitised human being, just because you’ve entered a more peaceful chapter of your life. You can hold onto the radical honesty. The sharp edges. And the emotional complexity of your younger self, while still choosing a quieter, more grounded reality.
And maybe I just sound like a fan, but in my eyes, the strategic takeaway is profound.
Stop treating your consumer base as a static data point.
If your marketing strategy isn’t evolving to match the real-time lifecycle changes, ageing dynamics, and psychological maturity of your audience, you aren't building brand equity. You may just be managing a diminishing asset.
The businesses that command lifetime loyalty are the ones that learn how to transition their messaging from immediate, high-octane hype to long-term emotional companionship.
They know how to validate where their customer has been, while perfectly equipping them for where they are standing right now.
So, to my fellow retired party girls currently pacing your living rooms, trying to balance the demands of adulthood, your marketing job, and grappling with existentialism while screaming pop lyrics at the ceiling: let that sh*t play.
You don't have to apologise for the volume. And you don't have to suppress the history (not that we could if we tried).
The party has not ended, girls. The venue has just moved indoors, and the stakes have finally become real.
-Sophie Randell, Writer
