Charli XCX hasn’t just stepped out of her comfort zone – she leapt out of it, and only a year after the most successful period of her career. It’s hard to predict how she may respond artistically after the global success of her last record, BRAT, which became a momentous driving force in pop culture since it’s release. As a long-time fan, I wondered how she would even begin to top the biggest moment of her career, and a left-field turn is exactly what she needed.

‘House’ is the first single from the soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights. The announcement that she would be scoring the film was met with shock from her fanbase and the fans avidly awaiting the film’s release. The initial worry was that her inclusion on the soundtrack was odd considering Charli XCX is typically seen as a forward-thinking pop artist who does not match the typical ambience of an Emily Brontë adaptation. But from the moment a poem from John Cale is heard within the spoken word section at the beginning of the track, the raw emotion is felt instantly.

The first half of the track begins with an unnerving, dissonant string quartet, all the whilst being narrated by avant-garde legend John Cale of Velvet Underground fame. It’s the kind of collaboration you would imagine happening in some disorienting dream, but his narration and Charli’s subtly auto-tuned vocals intertwine to create such a dark atmosphere. This atmosphere drastically changes in the second half with a wall of distortion that rips through the vocals. The recurring line ‘I think I’m gonna die in this house,’ which Charli belts out in one of her most vulnerable and raw vocal performances – creating these perfectly imperfect vocals that reminds me of some of the most chilling moments in the Ethel Cain discography.

Wuthering Heights gives Charli XCX a chance to reinvent herself, and to prove that her artistry moves beyond pop music. ‘House’, whilst being a short track clocking in at 3 minutes, gives us great insight into where her innovative sound may take fans next.

7/10

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