Stop what you’re doing, Charli XCX just dropped a new song. ‘House’ is a cinematic new single featuring John Cale of The Velvet Underground – her first release from the upcoming soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
The track arrives with a striking video directed by Mitch Ryan. Watch it below.
‘House’ marks the first taste of an album written by Charli for Fennell’s much-anticipated adaptation and a very different sound for ‘Brat’ superstar. Speaking about the collaboration, she said:
“I got a call from Emerald Fennell last Christmas asking whether I would consider working on a song for her adaptation of Wuthering Heights. I read the script and immediately felt inspired, so Finn Keane and I began working on not just one but many songs that we felt connected to the world she was creating.”
Reflecting on the sonic direction, Charli reportedly drew inspiration from The Velvet Underground’s John Cale, citing his description of the band’s sound as “elegant and brutal” – a phrase that became a guiding force throughout the project.
“When working on music for this film, ‘elegant and brutal’ was a phrase I kept coming back to. One day whilst on tour in Austin, Finn and I wrote the bones for what would eventually become House. Later, I decided to reach out to John… He recorded something and sent it to me. Something that only John could do. And it made me cry.”
The collaboration brings together two generations of avant-garde pop innovation – Charli’s emotive hyperrealism and Cale’s stark experimentalism – in a track that promises to bridge the gothic intensity of Wuthering Heights with Charli’s evolving creative universe. Charli has long been a fan of The Velvet Underground, speaking often of her love for the band in Brat interviews and even wearing a Velvet Underground T-shirt at Coachella. Fans had wondered if her next project would somehow be linked to the band.
Alongside her foray into film soundtracks, Charli is also stepping further into cinema herself. Early next year, she will star in A24’s The Moment – based on an original idea by Charli and directed by Aidan Zamiri – marking the first project from her new studio venture, studio365.
Charli’s acting slate continues to expand, with upcoming roles in Daniel Goldhaber’s remake of Faces of Death, Greg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero, Romain Gavras’ Sacrifice, and Pete Ohs’ Erupcja.
