Charli xcx’s Wuthering Heights album was recently released in conjunction with the Wuthering Heights film on Feb. 13.
The three-time GRAMMY award-winning artist shared what went into her creative approach for this project in an interview with Fandango: “Elegant and brutal were the words I was really applying to this album… that sort of twisted, tormented, passionate, but almost scary at points, version of love.”
Here are some of my thoughts about each of the 12 tracks of Wuthering Heights as a standalone record!
- “House featuring John Cale”
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To open the album, Charli xcx leans into a brutalist, unsettling ambience, with sharp violin sounds contrasting with a deep bass under the haunting voice of John Cale.
This song acclimates listeners to the diminishing perspective of personal struggle and the hopelessness of being your biggest enemy.
- “Wall of Sound”
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This song continues the theme of self-outlook, but this time as a component of a representation of a wavering relationship between loving and hating yourself that’s so overwhelming, you are left “still,” unable to get what you want so badly.
The echoing structure of repeating, “Cause every time I try / Talking myself backwards / Something inside stops me, oh” that builds louder and louder, which captures the experience of a whirlwind of thought.
- “Dying for You”
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“Dying for You” marks a shift in the vibe and topic of the songs. The song starts with a pop beat that associates with the typical Charli xcx style, but the lyrics focus on the struggles of deep passion and romance.
She uses a writing style that’s heavy with imagery to really convey the toxicity from overpowering love, repeatedly affirming “Pain and torture” at the end of the song. The elements of the song work together to create a modern poetic hit.
- “Always Everywhere”
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This track provides a different angle to the obsession of love that still highlights its power over someone, but the vibe is less directly violent and strained than “Dying For You.”
Charli xcx brings in contrast in thought yet again with the structure of this song by using soft, dark lyrics with her echoey voice to voice her displeasure, but then the dynamic, spatial chorus drives in that reminder of the pleasure of all-consuming love she can’t escape.
- “Chains of Love”
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“Chains of Love” is currently the most popular track in the Wuthering Heights lineup, sitting at No. 2 on Charli xcx’s discography list. This is easily the most “streamable” song on the album, as Charli goes back to her pop roots.
However, she keeps up the theme of the cruelty of love and feeling like a “prisoner,” even including some of the crunchy violin sounds used in previous songs. This song is just what the record needed and appeased her fans who yearn for a good bop.
- “Out of Myself”
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With “Out of Myself,” Charli xcx takes us back to the violence of love seen in earlier songs, but revolves around the term “ego death,” now popular on social media, and the theme of losing yourself as you fall more in love.
Apart from the other tracks, this song embeds religion into the mix with distinct lyrics like “forbidden fruit” and “on my knees” that tie the strength of devotion to one’s partner, similar to that of religious figures. This detail adds so much to the song’s context and drives home the emphasis on how consuming love is.
- “Open Up”
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This interlude serves as a light and airy palette cleanser that marks a transition for the next tracks of the album. The title speaks for itself, as this track represents the freedom in opening and showing your true self to those you love.
- “Seeing Things”
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Charli xcx maneuvers her theme of obsession to an even deeper extent by seeing them everywhere you go, showing a progression to madness and the feeling of insanity.
This song can be applied to so many different experiences, some more dramatic than others, which makes the song hit so much harder. Hear me out: “Seeing Things” is “party 4 u’s” Victorian cousin.
- “Altars”
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“Altars” brings back the theme of religion by suggesting that love is like worshipping at the other’s altar, “I’m at your altar, baby / … I must be the only one” pointing again to the idolization component of obsession.
One of my favorite lines is “One is not the loneliest number” because it represents the rejection of the idea that being with someone will always make you feel less lonely, but toxic relationships often make someone feel more isolated than ever.
- “Eyes of the World featuring Sky Ferreira”
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When I saw Sky Ferreira as a featured artist, I knew I would love this song. The production brings back the high-pitched string instruments, and we get back to a dark pop vibe that’s great for a casual listen but also delivers a new theme of societal outlook on relationships as seen through “Eyes of the World.”
I love that Charli xcx addressed societal opinions’ place within toxic love, as it often leads to isolationism in a relationship and the “us against the world” belief.
- “My Reminder”
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“My Reminder” is kind of an odd one out in this album. The musical tone is very light compared to the other tracks, even after the interlude. With this choice, Charli xcx works to convey the message of reflecting on your past and personal growth, which takes a turn from past tracks of being amid toxicity to looking back at it.
As the second-to-last song on the record, “My Reminder” showcases a timeline of progression out of toxicity, maintaining that even though a toxic relationship may be over, its presence is still felt in a person’s life long after.
- “Funny Mouth”
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Charli xcx finishes this record strongly, incorporating many of the elements used earlier in the record, while also giving us some hyperpop components that all work together by blending in the same theme of reflection. “Everyone sleeps / And everyone wakes up” are repeated throughout the song and are the last words.
They work in complement with “My Reminder” to establish that relationships never truly leave us, and our actions and behaviors result in these patterns that leave us stuck in the same place as before. Really, Charli xcx is saying that even though this is the “end,” meaning both the album and toxicity, there is really no end.
Based on listening alone, it’s a bit early, but it must be said that Charli xcx may be getting her flowers at the Grammys and Oscars, as Next Big Picture reports, “Following her first Album of the Year nomination, Wuthering Heights is yet another of her critically acclaimed works, receiving critic and audience scores that far surpass those of the film.”
Charli xcx showcased the range of her artistry, and I think she proved that she should be taken seriously as a force in the music industry.