Charli XCX is diving deep into the gothic with “House,” her haunting new collaboration with The Velvet Underground’s John Cale. The track, written for Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights, marks a bold new chapter for the Brat era pop provocateur.
A Dark, Elegant Sound
“House” trades Charli’s signature hyperpop pulse for something colder and more cinematic. Co-written with longtime collaborator Finn Keane, the song simmers with tension before swelling into a storm of strings, distortion, and auto-tuned croons. Cale’s deep, deliberate narration cuts through the fold, a spoken meditation on transformation that gives the track an eerie gravitas.
In its final act, “House” explodes into a wall of sound, echoing the emotional turmoil of Wuthering Heights. The track’s refrain, “I think I’m gonna die in this house,” loops like a ghostly warning.
Gothic Visions
The Mitch Ryan-directed video only heightens the unease. Charli is seen pouring candle wax on her skin, crows drift in slow motion, and Cale delivers his lines as shadows dance across the walls. The imagery leans fully into the gothic and romantic, just the way Emily Brontë might’ve imagined it.
In a note on social media, Charli wrote that working on Wuthering Heights offered her a total creative reset. “After being so in the depths of my previous album, I was excited to escape into something entirely new, entirely opposite,” she shared. “When I think of Wuthering Heights, I think of passion and pain. I think of England. I think of the Moors, the mud, the cold. Determination and grit.”
An “Elegant and Brutal” Collaboration
Charli, a longtime Velvet Underground fan, said she was drawn to a phrase from Todd Haynes’ 2021 documentary about the band. Cale described good music as needing to be “elegant and brutal,” words that became a mantra for Charli’s creative direction.
“I got really stuck on that phrase,” she wrote. “That voice, so elegant, so brutal. I sent him some songs, and we started talking specifically about ‘House.’ He recorded something and sent it to me. Something that only John could do. And it made me cry.”
A New Era for Charli
“House” is Charli’s first release since Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat, and it signals a leap into film music. She’s crafting an entire album for Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, which stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi and premieres on Valentine’s Day.
Meanwhile, Cale continues his own prolific streak, following up his 18th studio album POPtical Illusion.
Between Charli’s glittering chaos and Cale’s avant-garde edge, “House” feels like the perfect meeting point of pop and poetry—an elegant, brutal anthem that might just make the moors cool again.
