Charli XCX’s feverishly anticipated new album Brat doesn’t even come out until tomorrow, at least in the US, but certain narratives are already emerging. On a couple of Brat tracks, Charli makes oblique references to some of her peers, and plenty of people are already speculating about her possible targets. One is Taylor Swift. Another is Lorde.

On the as-yet-unrleased Brat track “Girl, so confusing,” Charli sings about another woman who, at least according to some people, as a few things in common with her: “People say we’re alike/ They say we’ve got the same hair.” In her lyrics, Charli describes feelings of envy, distrust, confusion, and admiration for this unnamed person. There’s been widespread speculation, possibly fueled by Charli herself, that the other person is Lorde.

Yesterday, Charli XCX appeared on Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang’s La Culturistas podcast, and they asked her point-blank who she’s singing about. Charli responded, “I haven’t quite decided whether I’m revealing. When I wrote it, I was like, ‘I’m revealing!’ But now, you know, the time is here; I’m like, ‘Mmmmrrmm.’ Do you think I should reveal?… People are gonna guess. You probably have an accurate guess, and I’m not gonna say out loud ’cause you’ll tell by my face, but it’s probably going to be that person.”

Without outright naming the person (Lorde), however, Charli does explain what she means with the song:

I think we live in the world of pop music right now where women are like, “I support other women! I love women! I’m a feminist” And that’s great. Love that… I don’t think you become a bad feminist if you maybe don’t see eye to eye with every single woman. That’s not the nature of human beings. There’s a competitiveness between us. There’s envy. There camaraderie. There’s all of these different dynamics.

I feel that working in entertainment, there is this kind of dance that we all do with each other. Whether you’re in music, whether you’re in your world, no matter how you identify, there is this dance. Everybody’s watching each other. Everybody’s posing in the picture, like, “Hey, oh my god, so nice to see you!” But then you’re like, “I want what they have.” And then the next day, you’re like, “They suck!” This happens, but no one really is willing to discuss it.

We all probably have our person, or maybe a few different people, and I’m sure we are that person for other people. I just find that there is this strange unspoken thing that often happens, particularly with women, because there is such a narrative of pitting women against each other in music. Sometimes, that’s not totally fabricated. Sometimes, what’s the phrase? Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

That’s really interesting! It means that “Girl, so confusing” isn’t a diss track, but it’s not not a diss track, either. It’s way more complicated and fascinating. Right now, though, it appears that “Girl, so confusing” will not lead to a niche-pop replay of the Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud. Lorde isn’t taking anything personally.

Brat is already out in New Zealand, Lorde’s home, and she posted about the album on her Instagram story. Without mentioning “Girl, so confusing” in particular, Lorde voiced enthusiastic support for the album’s release:

The only album I’ve ever presaved is out today .. Charli just cooked this one different .. So much grit, grace & skin in the game. I speak for all of us when I say it’s an honour to be moved, changed and gagged by her work. there is NO ONE like this bitch

Brat is out 6/7 on Atlantic.