Charli XCX tells fans to ditch work for album release party in NY — and hundreds listen
What a bunch of “brats.”
Fans of Charli XCX ditched work Thursday — with some calling in for bogus “mental health” or sick days — to whoop it up at the singer’s mid-day album release party in the Hudson Valley.
Gen Z’s pop queen asked fans to play hooky to make it to her 3 p.m. listening event at the sculpture museum Storm King — prompting around 1,000 people ranging from software engineers to dog walkers to flock to the oddly timed weekday party.
“‘Brat’ has been such a phenomenon and such a pop culture moment,” Brooklyn-based content creator Sam Murphy told The Post of the star’s “Brat” album, which came out this summer.
“It feels like everybody drops everything the minute she’s doing something,” said Murphy, who took the hour-plus Metro North ride to the party from Grand Central. “That’s why everyone is taking the train to go upstate.”
The “Guess” singer urged followers Monday to, “Maybe plan to get off work early Thursday?” to celebrate the release of her wordily titled remix album “Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat.”
The 32-year-old English singer-songwriter has taken pop culture by storm since the launch of her sixth studio album in June — sparking fashion trends, viral TikTok dances and even a rebrand from Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
She’s even coined her own definition of “brat” — which can mean everything from fearless to brazen, according to fans surveyed by The Post.
“I would say [Brat is] a confidence, not caring about what anyone thinks or says about what you do and just living life with that mindset,” said Manhattanite Isabella Kahle, 29.
“Brat is the vodka in my water bottle and the poppers in my pocket,” added Ricky Pinela, a 25-year-old influencer who lives in Bushwick.
One 28-year-old fan, a product designer from Jersey City who declined to provide his name, said he called out sick that morning, while content creator Murphy said he didn’t have to worry about missing work since he’s self-employed.
Jo Diaz, 29, of Harlem, said he called out for a “very important doctor’s appointment” — while his plus one had a different excuse.
“My boss knows I’m taking a mental health day because my family is in Florida,” his friend chimed in.
“I’m actually very lucky that I’m recently unemployed,” said East Village resident Sydni Dichter, 23, who added that she walks dogs on the side for some extra cash.
“[This morning] was the fastest one I’ve ever taken,” she said.
The ask to take off work for a midday autumnal listening party sparked jokes aplenty on social media, with in-office fans quipping about those able to easily flee upstate on a workday.
“Charli upstate at 3:00 pm on a thursday being the ultimate test of who has a fake job…i’m going to be watching,” one X user wrote.
Even local New York City electeds got in on poking fun at the attendees and making jabs at the fans’ open availability mid-workday, with City Council Member Chi Ossé suggesting in an X post that “New York state government should simultaneously hold a job fair” at the event.
While plenty of fans took a train just a few hours before the event, which ended up starting at around 4:30 p.m., others planned to leave their homes hours or even days before — like one Reddit user who came from Chile, who told The Post she couldn’t get inside because she didn’t have one of roughly 600 emailed invitations.
Thousands more signed up for the guestlist but didn’t receive a confirmation email to gain entry, a representative from the singer’s label, Atlantic Records, told The Post.
Ticket or not, Charli XCX fans remained steadfast in their willingness to travel out of the city for the artist on a Thursday afternoon.
“She’s really, really unique,” Dichter, the East Village resident, added. “She puts on a great show and I think everybody’s just really excited to be a part of something so cool. It’s nice to see how it brings us all together.”
— Additional reporting by Natalie O’Neill
