Charli XCX’s Wuthering Heights Is an Emotional Downpour: Review

In Emerald Fennell’s lush and seductive adaptation of Wuthering Heights, complicated heroine Cathy (Margot Robbie) sleeps in a luxurious bedroom where the padded walls aren’t just pink, but the exact pink of her own skin, mottled with faint veins and moles for the slightly unsettling feel of flesh. At one key moment in the movie, Cathy, consumed by longing, presses herself against the walls as a poor substitute for the sensations she really craves. It’s that exact vibe which Charli XCX brings to her original soundtrack for the movie, a lush pop odyssey that’s as sensual and unsubtle as the movie it accompanies.

In the press notes for Wuthering Heights, Fennell revealed that she’s been a longtime fan of the pop star’s work, writing “Boys” into the script for her debut feature, Promising Young Woman. Fennell sent Charli the script for Wuthering Heights to see if she might be interested in doing a song for the soundtrack — it was Charli who came back to her with the request to do a full album. “It’s now my favorite album of all time,” Fennell said, which makes sense, considering the feedback loop of its creation.

The original text is often referred to as a gothic masterpiece, and thus it’s quite apt that the album opens with “House,” a track so goth it’s got a Hot Topic rewards card. John Cale of the Velvet Underground narrates a desperation for illusive perfection over an ambient hush punctuated by sharp strings. It’s a haunting beginning, one that culminates in the discordant prophecy sung as a duet with Charli that “I think I’m gonna die in this house.” (Spoilers!)

From there, Charli aims for more traditionally romantic feel. The second track, “Wall of Sound,” captures the blooming hope of a new crush and the doubts that accompany it: “Talking myself backwards/ Away from my desires/ Something inside stops me/ Every timе I try.” It’s a swirling, dreamy mood that leads nicely into the next few songs, created to accompany the epic passion that develops between Cathy and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi), who grew up together but get torn apart by class divides and tragic misunderstandings.

It’s this section of the album which really soars, as all of these middle songs align nicely with the film’s love story, from the dawning awareness embraced in “Dying for You” and “Always Everywhere” to the all consuming passion of “Chains of Love,” the track used for the film’s official trailer. Its aura of tortured romance, coupled with big orchestral swirls as well as a rough electro edge, defines the movie while also emerging as the album’s standout single.

(A curious note: Consequence’s Jonah Krueger pointed out that both the lyrics and the rhythm of “Dying for You” bear more than a little similarity to The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Charli’s writing about the tragedy of infatuation, and not the death of a medium, but it’s a hard comparison to shake once you notice it.)

“Out of Myself” keeps the passion going, though its light strings and uplifting melody come in sharp contrast to darker lyrics like “Please rub the salt in my wounds/ I like the person you turn me to.” It’s a song that’s less connected to Heathcliff and Cathy’s dark bond and more inspired by the darker notes of sexuality Fennell plays with throughout the movie. Really, although the lyrics relate directly to a moment of unplanned voyeurism (one that haunts Cathy for years to come), it fits well as a song for Isabella (Alison Oliver), a repressed young woman whose presumed innocence becomes quite lost by the end of the movie. For this version of Wuthering Heights doesn’t hold love and passion up as idealized virtues, but as inescapable storms raining down damage.

Charli delivers some quiet grace with the interlude “Open up,” followed by “Seeing Things,” a light and airy tune that doesn’t quite match with its lyrics about a missing lover. It does, however, capture the false smile Cathy wears after Heathcliff disappears and she does her best to move forward in life. Those complicated emotions carry forward into the more percussive “Altars,” which calls out Three Dog Night with lyrics like “One is not the loneliest number/ I won’t keep putting all my faith in you.”

The most toxic elements, though, of the film’s romance peak with “Eyes of the World,” featuring Sky Ferreira on vocals and a steady pulsing heartbeat, though its meaning becomes more than a little muddled. This isn’t an album that dwells in the realm of subtext, but it’s the eyes of the world (i.e. society) that have led to the twisting of Heathcliff and Cathy’s love — making the message of “Eyes of the world/ Set me free” ring out even more awkwardly.

The album then concludes with “My Reminder” and “Funny Mouth,” and here’s where this album stops working effectively as an accompaniment to the film: True to its source material, Wuthering Heights ends in tragedy, but Charli chooses to conclude her soundtrack with two relatively forgettable, upbeat tracks. “Funny Mouth” invokes one of the movie’s most erotic (clothed) moments, but placing it at the end feels like a false effort to end on an positive note.

Overall, the Wuthering Heights soundtrack is a front-loaded listening experience, one that does feature some real range in terms of sound and emotional impact. At its peak, it really does sweep the listener away into a world where passion is all-powerful and all-consuming, for better and for worse, with Charli finding the capacity for epic drama within her talents for addictive pop. Like the movie that inspired it, there’s messiness here — and like the movie, the messiness feels like the point.