GUESS

By By Chris

Charli XCX continues to dominate the avant-pop conversation with the remix of “Guess,” now featuring none other than Billie Eilish, in a new version that feels like a cheeky, hyperreal add-on to her already chaotic and self-aware Brat era. “Guess feat. Billie Eilish” is not so much a remix in the traditional sense as it is a re-imagining within the same bratty universe, this time with a wink and a whisper. It rides the bratwave Charli started earlier this summer, but it veers into flirtier, sapphic territory, buoyed by Billie’s unmistakable brand of seductive minimalism and deadpan cool. The track’s reappearance as part of “Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not” is emblematic of Charli’s current mode: knowingly meta, emotionally cryptic, and obsessed with remixing both pop music and pop culture narratives.

“Guess” played like a wiry, electroclash statement about the annoying glare of public attention, a thumping, ironic anthem for people who hate being asked “what’s going on” even more than they hate being misunderstood. Produced by Harrison Patrick Smith (aka the Dare), the track’s sonic palette hasn’t changed drastically on the remix, but Billie Eilish’s addition deepens the mood. Her verse creeps in like a private text message you weren’t supposed to read, full of breathy longing, wry humor, and sly innuendo. Riding the success and sensual energy of her recent viral track “Lunch,” Billie folds her identity into the Brat mythos with ease, adding a layer of queer flirtation that complicates the original’s message of frustrated boundaries and performative intimacy.

What’s fascinating is how well Eilish fits into Charli’s world without disrupting it. The production subtly shifts under her voice, the bass grows heavier, the space more echoic, giving the sense that her arrival marks a moment of personal realization, like catching sight of someone across the club and forgetting what you were saying. There’s a heartbeat-like pulse beneath her vocals, amplifying the nervous tension of attraction. Her lyrics don’t feel like a separate verse tacked on for novelty; they feel like a secret inner monologue buried inside Charli’s world of flashing lights and calculated apathy. It’s a clever blend of personas, and one that showcases both artists’ ability to lean into intimacy without losing their signature detachment.

In the spirit of Brat’s chaotic honesty, the remix also subtly unpacks a different kind of emotional tension, not the dramatic feud or mutual envy explored in “The girl so confusing remix with Lorde,” but the more awkward, tender reality of unspoken queer longing in a friendship where one person just isn’t interested that way. Billie’s verse gives voice to this dynamic, playing with the tension between fantasy and reality in a way that feels both personal and performatively ironic. The relationship dynamic here is less about conflict and more about a soft, amused frustration, the kind of crush you know is doomed but indulge in anyway, just for the emotional thrill. That sense of knowing futility adds depth to the track, elevating it from a club-ready remix to a miniature queer vignette.

“Guess (feat. Billie Eilish)” isn’t just a remix; it’s a recontextualization. It extends the Brat era with flair, sex appeal, and a hint of emotional vulnerability, while keeping everything wrapped in a glossy layer of pop posturing. Charli’s part remains largely the same, but the track feels transformed by Eilish’s presence, not just musically but narratively. Their interplay suggests a pop culture fourth wall being joyfully shattered, the remix as gossip, the song as subtext, the lyrics as leaked texts between besties. It’s bratty, it’s brilliant, and it reminds us that in the world of Charli XCX, nothing is ever just a remix; it’s a reinvention.