From "Brat" Summer to Gothic Winter: Charli XCX Officially Soundtracks New Wuthering Heights Movie

The music industry just witnessed one of the most drastic artistic pivots in recent memory. Just two years after her "Brat" aesthetic redefined global pop culture, Charli XCX released her seventh studio album, Wuthering Heights—a haunting, 12-track companion piece to Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic. Moving away from the neon-lit club floors of 2024, the project is a deep dive into neoclassical dark wave and baroque pop, signaling that the "Brat" era has been officially laid to rest in favor of something far more "elegant and brutal."

The album’s centerpiece, "House," features a chilling spoken-word poem by the legendary John Cale of The Velvet Underground. The collaboration is a full-circle moment for Charli, a self-described Velvet Underground superfan who has long cited Cale's description of music needing to be "elegant and brutal" as her creative North Star. Built on a foundation of droning strings, metallic feedback, and Cale’s weathered Welsh baritone, the track feels like a spiritual successor to her 2013 gothic-pop debut, True Romance, yet infused with a mature, industrial weight that matches the moorland grit of the source material.

A Cinematic Reset for a Global Icon

The project began in late 2024, following a text from director Emerald Fennell (Saltburn) at a time when Charli admitted to feeling "creatively depleted" by the sheer scale of the Brat phenomenon. What was originally a request for a single song evolved into a comprehensive world-building exercise. Recorded during her global tour throughout 2025, the album captures a sense of "yearning in the internet sense," featuring collaborations with longtime partners Finn Keane and Justin Raisen, as well as a standout appearance by Sky Ferreira on the atonal, amorous anthem "Eyes of the World."

Critics have been quick to praise the record’s sonic friction. While Charli's signature Auto-Tuned croons and sharp pop melodies remain, they are now undercut by dissonant cello arrangements and jagged feedback. The Guardian described the effort as "atonal and industrial," noting that it functions perfectly as a standalone album independent of the Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi-led film. By trading "cigarettes and sunglasses" for "corsets and moors," Charli has successfully navigated the "post-zeitgeist" trap, proving she can command high-art cinema as effortlessly as she did the dance floor.