It’s been five years since Charli XCX dropped her boundary-pushing quarantine album How I’m Feeling Now, and the pop provocateur is throwing a proper celebration—with a brand-new music video for fan-favorite track “party 4 u,” dropping May 15.
In a handwritten note posted to Instagram on Wednesday, the genre-blending star got reflective about her 2020 DIY-era record, which she wrote and produced in just five weeks during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Honestly just feels like yesterday,” she wrote. “So much has changed since then: me, my life, elements of my music and most definitely the world.”
Pandemic Pop, Reborn
Though How I’m Feeling Now wasn’t a chart-topping release—it peaked at No. 111 on the Billboard 200—it has long held cult status among Charli’s fans. Created in full lockdown, with real-time input from fans via livestreams and social media, the album became a raw, glitchy, and emotional time capsule.
“I felt like I rediscovered myself, my sanity and my connection with the world at a time when we were all so alone,” Charli wrote.
“Party 4 U” Finds New Life
Fast forward to 2025, and How I’m Feeling Now is having a moment—again. One track in particular, “party 4 u,” has recently gone viral on TikTok, sending it soaring onto the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time—five years after its release. On the chart dated May 17, 2025, it reached No. 55, giving the track its highest peak yet.
Never one to let a moment pass quietly, Charli teased a brand-new music video for the song, sharing a cryptic close-up video of her eyes set to the track, captioned: “5 years later… the party 4 u video. tomorrow.”
A Celebration Fit for the Angels
The singer also posted a TikTok of herself sprinting down a deserted street clutching pink balloons—a visual easter egg pulled directly from the lyrics of “party 4 u.” In her handwritten note, she wrote, “I really can’t believe that 5 years later one of the Angel favorites is having its own special moment.”
“So obviously I wanted to do something to celebrate,” she added. “This one’s for you Angels.”
A Charli Year to Remember
The fifth anniversary of How I’m Feeling Now comes at a busy time for the Essex-born artist. Fresh off back-to-back weekends at Coachella 2025—where she performed “party 4 u” and shared the stage with Lorde, Troye Sivan, and Billie Eilish for Brat remix collabs—Charli just wrapped four sold-out nights at Barclays Center in Brooklyn as part of her Brat Tour.
She heads next to Europe, starting with a show in Poland on May 31.
