The Sound of My Heart: The True Story of Charli XCX's 'Boom Clap'

What does it mean to you when I say the word “brat”? What even is
brat at this point? Are you brat? Am I brat?


In 2024 we learned what brat was and wasn’t, thanks to Charli XCX
- who had a major breakthrough in 2024, but it wasn’t exactly her
first rodeo. She has been flirting with stardom since she was a
teenager.


As early as 2007, Charli took out a loan from her VERY
UNDERSTANDING parents in order to make her first album, called
14. While promotional copies of 14 were shared with friends and
members of the press - the album was never commercially
available. However, a copy of the CD found its way into the hands
of Atlantic Records, which offered Charli a record deal. At first
Charli XCX wasn’t sure about signing with Asylum, a subsidiary of
Atlantic Records. She was only 18 and enjoying making weird rave
music on her own terms.


By 2012, Charli had found her niche as a songwriter and featured
artist - penning tracks that became hits for Icona Pop and Iggy
Azalea. 


But in 2013/14, while working on her album True Romance,
something weird happened. A song called "Boom Clap", which had
been sitting on the shelf for a year -originally planned at one
point to be given to Hilary Duff, was given a second chance by
Charli as her first real single recording. 


This is the story of 'Boom Clap' with newly unearthed audio from
Charli XCX.