Charli XCX has shared new tune House, the first song from her upcoming album relating to the new Emerald Fennell adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
The film stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi and is an adaptation of the famous Emily novel. It will be the first film from director Fennell since her massive success with Saltburn.
Charli XCX has spoken about how she came to be involved in the project and how she came to collaborate with John Cale from the Velvet Underground on the new track.
“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. After being so in the depths of my previous album I was excited to escape into something entirely new, entirely opposite. When I think of Wuthering Heights I think of many things. I think of passion and pain. I think of England. I think of the Moors, I think of the mud and the cold. I think of determination and grit.
“A few years ago I watched Todd Haynes’ documentary about The Velvet Underground. As many of you know I’m a huge fan of the band and was really taken by the documentary. One thing that stuck with me was how John Cale described a key sonic requirement of The Velvet Underground. That any song had to be both “elegant and brutal”. I got really stuck on that phrase. I write it down on my notes app and would pull it up from time to time and think about what he meant.” Charli XCX shared.
“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 went to the studio and wrote the bones for a song that would eventually become House. When the summer ended I was still ruminating on John’s words. So I decided to reach out to him to get his opinion on the songs that his phrase had so deeply inspired, but also to see whether he might want to collaborate on any.
“We got connected, we spoke on the phone and wow… that voice, so elegant, so brutal. I sent him some songs and we started talking specifically about House. We spoke about the idea of a poem. He recorded something and sent it to me. Something that only John could do. And it was… well, it made my cry.
“I feel so lucky to have been able to work with John on this song. I’ve been so excited to share it with you all, sitting quietly in anticipation.” the singer said.
