The world had no idea which direction Charli XCX would take after the success of her last album, and biggest era, BRAT. While not officially categorized as Charli’s ninth studio album, Wuthering Heights, released on Feb. 13. serves as the soundtrack for Emerald Fennel’s movie adaptation of the novel, “Wuthering Heights”.
Opening the album is “House”, featuring The Velvet Underground vocalist John Cale. The track is a milder take of the Neoclassical Dark Wave and Gothic genres, while still being extremely dark in comparison to the rest of the album. Cale speaks directly to the listener as if he were telling you a story, haunting you as the track builds to the climax. As “House” continues to build with more orchestral instrumentation it then drops with Charli’s voice screaming in a sinister distortion. The content is uniquely eerie, something Charli has never done before, building a curiosity in the listener for what is next.
The next two singles take a different approach. “Chains of Love” is a dreamier synth-pop track, where the chorus glimmers. In contrast to the production, the lyrics take on heavy themes of being trapped in love and how it’s inescapable which causes her suffering.
“Wall of Sound”, the third and final single of the album, finds itself in the middle. The track is the most simple of the three, but still continues to utilize orchestral elements. The lyrical themes of the song discuss how she can’t seem to intertwine the forces of love and hatred. She continues to sing about something inside her that prevents her from taking a step forward, a theme demonstrated within the Wuthering Heights novel. Though it wasn’t as extravagant as “House” or “Chains of Love”, I enjoyed the simplicity of “Wall of Sound” to the same extent.
The rest of the album holds up in quality to the singles. The tracklist continues on the pop route, consistent with both ballads and more synth-pop tracks. Her emotions are raw as she continues to sing about a more toxic love, focusing on dependency and the suffering that comes with it.
Two tracks that stuck out to me in particular are “Dying For You” and “Out of Myself” . Both are classic electro synth-pop tunes but are unique because of that orchestral twist; which ultimately works for not just the concept of the soundtrack, but also Charli’s sound. The album closes with one of the more solemn tracks “Funny Mouth”. I found that the track’s repetitive lyrics were its weakest point, but the evocative production makes up for it. With a dramatic instrumentation that never reaches its climax and emotive vocals from Charli, the album comes to a close.
Wuthering Heights does exactly what it was meant to. Though the lyrical content occasionally fell flat, Charli’s stylistic choices production wise were especially noteworthy. Haunting yet hopeful, Wuthering Heights not only continues to enhance Charli XCX’s name as a pop music producer, but further establishes her name as a pop visionary.
