Charli XCX has unveiled a striking new single titled ‘Wall Of Sound’. You can hear it below.
Read More: Charli XCX – ‘Brat’ review: pop pioneer fully embraces the dancefloor
The song is the latest preview from Charli’s forthcoming album, created specifically for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights. The full project is due out on Friday February 13 and is currently available to pre order.
Until now, listeners have been given a taste of the album through ‘House’, which featured a collaboration with The Velvet Underground’s John Cale and leaned into an unsettling atmosphere, alongside the brooding gothic cut ‘Chains Of Love’.
With ‘Wall Of Sound’, Charli delivers a richly cinematic piece that leans heavily into mood and tension, opening with sweeping orchestral elements and raw, exposed vocals.
“Unbelievable tension/ Wall of sound/ No real reason and I can’t escape it,” she sings, her voice cutting through a chilling swirl of violins. Take a listen below.
The new screen version of Wuthering Heights is scheduled to arrive next month on February 13 and features Margot Robbie in the role of Catherine Earnshaw, with Jacob Elordi portraying Heathcliff.
These latest tracks follow Charli’s recent comments about feeling creatively drawn toward film rather than music, after describing herself as feeling “stuck, empty and barren” in the aftermath of her breakthrough album ‘Brat‘.
“[By the end of ‘Brat’] I sort of felt like I was squeezing blood from a stone, trying to get every last drop of liquid life out of an idea I had already been sat with for years prior,” she shared. “I still love [Brat], don’t get me wrong but I was itching to move on and was simultaneously frustrated that I was so depleted that I couldn’t.”
Back in May, she suggested that her next album outside of the Wuthering Heights project would move in a completely new direction, joking: “You can never really do the same thing twice and my next record will probably be a flop, which I’m down for to be honest.”
Then in February, her producers A.G. Cook, Finn Keane and George Daniel, who is also her husband, explained that the follow up was shaping up as something deliberately opposed to ‘Brat’, with Keane adding: “Some of the conversations we’re having and music we’ve been playing around with the last couple of months have been completely the opposite.”
More recently, Charli revealed that she has been “exploring a lot of stuff with strings” as part of the album’s sound.
Elsewhere, Charli’s upcoming mockumentary The Moment is due to arrive in UK cinemas on February 20.
The film will be released through A24 and focuses on the overwhelming reaction to her 2024 album ‘Brat’ and the tour that followed. Directed by Aidan Zamiri, it blends real footage from the live shows with scripted backstage moments.
Alongside Charli, the cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Rachel Sennott, Hailey Benton Gates, Jamie Demetriou, Kate Berlant and Rosanna Arquette, with a cameo appearance from Kylie Jenner.
Elton John has shared his family’s yearly summer playlist on the latest episode of his Rocket Hour show on Apple Music, with songs chosen together with his husband David Furnish and their sons, Zachary and Elijah.
During his appearance on Apple Music 1, the musician revealed that the family puts every song suggestion to a vote at home, with a track needing at least three votes before making the final cut. The playlist is packed with energetic songs, matching the family’s love for lively and feel good music throughout the summer.
The playlist brings together different generations and musical styles, combining iconic names from previous decades with newer electronic artists and dance music producers.
Among the songs chosen are Stevie Wonder’s "Higher Ground," Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Could You Be Loved," and Tom Petty’s "Runnin' Down A Dream." John also praised Petty’s music, describing the 1989 album Full Moon Fever as one of the greatest rock albums ever made.
Zachary and Elijah’s musical tastes are also represented, with the playlist featuring current UK club tracks alongside familiar reggae and pop favorites. John singled out "Free Your Mind," the collaboration between Leeds dance duo Prospa and producer Cloonee, as one song his sons especially enjoy.
The broadcast also features a mix of electronic and crossover sounds, including Peggy Gou and Ayra Starr’s "Wo, man," Jamie xx’s "Baddy On the Floor" featuring Honey Dijon, Barry Can’t Swim’s "Return To Bhibo," and Fisher’s reworking of Bob Sinclar’s "World, Hold On." Other artists included in the selection are Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lykke Li, Groove Armada, Kacey Musgraves, Wiz Khalifa, and Role Model.
John noted that the songs played during the radio show are only part of the much larger playlist the family listens to during the summer.
The complete episode of Rocket Hour can be streamed on demand through Apple Music and Apple Podcasts.
