Charli XCX single-handedly brought club-pop back into pop culture, with electronic beats and artistic autotune defining summer 2024. The popstar is back with a different sound in her Wuthering Heights album, taking the role as soundtrack artist for the upcoming film by Emerald Fennell, adapted from the Emily Brontë’ novel. The album encapsulates the eerie and sultry nature of the film, with some songs offering more of a ballad sound and others calling back to Charli XCX’s iconic hyper-pop voice.
Sound Analysis
Charli has made her name in hyper pop, cool-girl, club music, with striking colors, fonts, and bold fashion, elevating the “Brat” lifestyle. Her new album, Wuthering Heights, offers several new, old, and signature Charli XCX elements.
Songs like “House,” “Wall of Sound,” “Open Up,” “Funny Mouth,” and “Eyes of the World” introduce an unsettling orchestral foundation, following the obsessive and haunting themes of the film. Other songs bring a lighter sound, with romantic orchestral backgrounds and drawn-out, yearning lyrics and vocalizations, like “Always Everywhere,” “Chains of Love,” “Altars,” and “Seeing Things.” However, Charli carries her signature artistic autotune and synth sensations into songs like “Dying for You,” “Out of Myself,” and “My Reminder.”
My favorites would be the lighter, Brat-reminiscent songs, like “Chains of Love” and “Always Everywhere.” These songs mirror the electronic pop thrill, but also bring in a romantic mood and sound.
My Ratings
“House (feat. John Cale)” – 5.5/10
“Wall of Sound” – 7/10
“Dying for You” – 9/10
“Always Everywhere” – 10/10
“Chains of Love” – 10/10
“Out of Myself” – 9/10
“Open Up” – 6/10
“Seeing Things” – 8/10
“Altars” – 10/10
“Eyes of the World (feat. Sky Ferreira)” – 7/10
“My Reminder” – 9/10
“Funny Mouth” – 9/10
Visual Elements
The marketing and aesthetics around this album, as with the film, evoke Victorian gothic, moody, and contemporary aspects. Charli’s emotional melodic choices, orchestral background beats, and electropop mixture make her the perfect choice as the score for the film. This vibe is encapsulated in the “Chains of Love” music video.
The video focuses on the singer being thrown across a long dining table in a dim Victorian dining room, draped in white silks and lace with long, wavy hair. The scene of the video emphasizes the angst of the song and the movie, as dishware is being hurled at Charli against her will, representing the uncontrollable nature of love.
For the overall marketing of the album, Charli follows with this dark romantic theme. She is seen cloaked in light, ruffled silks and fabrics, surrounded by woodlands.
This juxtaposition of sophisticated attire and rugged nature cultivates the desperation and bizarreness that the film evokes. This same juxtaposition is mirrored with her contemporary beats and Victorian era context and emotions. The image above is Charli’s new music profile photo, defining the end of her Brat era, revealing a new, vintage romantic persona for the album.
The mood that Charli conjures with her “Always Everywhere” music video elevates this eccentric and eerie aesthetic. She combines freakish, bustling nature scenes with sophisticated fashion and sheer fabrics.
We can see this continue in her event presence, at the London Wuthering Heights premier, she dons a floor-length baby pink tulle, off-the-shoulder gown, complementing the similar silhouette worn in the movie. She tops it off with a sheer pink veil, illustrating the repressed and agonizing nature of desire represented in her songs.
Overall Impression
In terms of Charli’s discography, Wuthering Heights most often resembles Brat. This comparison might seem ironic, but the contemporary fusion of a Victorian love story was seemingly the basis of the film and soundtrack. Viral songs, like “House (featuring John Cale),” forming a TikTok trend gave many the impression that the album might be more eerie and unsettling, abandoning the Brat-esque club beats.
However, many of the songs assert Charli’s digital chaos into the messy, obsessive romance of the film. I was a bit surprised when she was selected to do the score for Wuthering Heights, but when I heard her album, I was pleased to hear the variations of sound Charli produces. She creates an intimate mood while sticking to the synthetic, futuristic style that she’s mastered.