Charli XCX marks first anniversary of 'Brat' with hedonistic revelry at We Love Green

The We Love Green festival could almost have been renamed We Love Lime Green. The crowd filling the wooded setting of the Bois de Vincennes in Paris, on Saturday, June 7, was awash with references (from shoes to hair color) to the shade featured on the now-iconic cover of Brat, the sixth album by British artist Charli XCX that was released exactly one year ago. Over the course of 12 months, the "bad girl" has become a cultural and commercial phenomenon and was the undisputed star of the second day of the festival that concluded on June 8.
As it often has since 2010, this pioneering festival for environment-friendly gatherings – always on the lookout for avant-garde pop and urban music – proved prescient. "We booked her right when Brat was released," explained Emmanuel de Buretel, head of the record label Because Music and co-producer of We Love Green. "At that time, her fee was still reasonable; it would be much higher today," he added, pleased with this French exclusive.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

LeMonde

9 hours ago

• LeMonde

Paris' iconic cauldron from the Olympic Games returns to light up summer nights

A year after it captivated crowds during the Paris Olympics, a centerpiece of the summer Games made a comeback Saturday, June 21, to light up the French capital's skyline. The iconic helium-powered balloon that attracted myriads of tourists during the summer Games has shed its Olympic branding and is now just called the "Paris Cauldron." It rose again into the air later Saturday, lifting off over the Tuileries Garden just as the sun was about to set. Despite the suffocating hot weather in Paris, around 30,000 people were expected to attend the launch, which coincided with France's annual street music festival — the Fête de la Musique, the Paris police prefecture said. And it won't be a one-time event. After Saturday's flight, the balloon will lift off into the sky each summer evening from June 21 to Sept. 14, for the next three years. The cauldron's ascent may become a new rhythm of the Parisian summer, with special flights planned for Bastille Day on July 14 and the anniversary of the 2024 opening ceremony on July 26. Gone is the official "Olympic" branding — forbidden under International Olympic Committee reuse rules — but the spectacle remains. The 30-meter (98-foot)-tall floating ring, dreamed up by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and powered by French energy company EDF, simulates flame without fire: LED lights, mist jets and high-pressure fans create a luminous halo that hovers above the city at dusk, visible from rooftops across the capital. Though it stole the show in 2024, the cauldron was only meant to be temporary, not engineered for multi-year outdoor exposure. To transform it into a summer staple, engineers reinforced it. The aluminum ring and tether points were rebuilt with tougher components to handle rain, sun and temperature changes over several seasons. Though it's a hot-air-balloon-style, the lift comes solely from helium — no flame, no burner, just gas and engineering. The structure first dazzled during the Olympics. Over just 40 days, it drew more than 200,000 visitors, according to officials. Now anchored in the center of the drained Tuileries pond, the cauldron's return is part of French President Emmanuel Macron's effort to preserve the Games' spirit in the city, as Paris looks ahead to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Local France

10 hours ago

• Local France

French Expression of the Day: Sourire du plombier

Why do I need to know sourire du plombier ? If ever you find yourself in a supermarket or Metro when someone bends down just that little bit too far and you get a vision that you would have preferred to live without, sourire du plombier is the phrase for you. What does it mean? Sourire du plombier - pronounced as soo-rear-du-plom-be-ay - literally means 'the plumber's smile' but it also has a figurative meaning. It's that slightly embarrassing encounter between a customer and the beginning of their craftsman's buttock and is the equivalent to the English phrase 'builder's bum'. Advertisement It occurs when one person is leaning forward or squatting and the elastic has slightly gone in their trouser waistband. The French version is a little broader, however, and also refers to the sighting of underwear above trousers. In other words, almost every male teenager across the world is guilty of showing a sourire du plombier . Interestingly, a French company identified this style issue and created a line of boxer shorts specifically designed to hide your sourire. Use it like this Si tu te penches encore plus, je verrai bien plus qu'un simple sourire du plombier. If you bend over any further, I'll see a lot more than just a plumber's smile.

France 24

18 hours ago

• France 24

Turkey: 'Kanal Istanbul,' a controversial project divides the country

02:31 21/06/2025 Fete de la musique: a French celebration of music that has gone international Europe 21/06/2025 Israeli military says killed Iran's Hamas coordinator Middle East 21/06/2025 Iranians flee war-torn country in long and dangerous journey Middle East 21/06/2025 Rwanda arrests opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Africa 21/06/2025 Italy's Meloni touts €1.2 bn plan to boost Africa economies: mirage or reality? Europe 21/06/2025 Former member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team speaks to FRANCE 24 Middle East 21/06/2025 Columbia protester Mahmoud Khalil freed from immigration detention Americas 21/06/2025 India's Modi joins crowds to celebrate world yoga day Asia / Pacific 21/06/2025 Israel-Iran war: Will Trump lose part of his supporters whatever he decides to do? Middle East