After the global success of her album Brat, singer Charli XCX felt creatively empty and uninspired. In a deeply personal post on her Substack, the artist revealed how an unexpected text from filmmaker Emerald Fennell sparked a creative rebirth, leading her to create a full album for Fennell’s upcoming movie, Wuthering Heights.
From Burnout to a Creative Breakthrough
In her Substack post published on November 12, 2025, Charli XCX wrote with unusual vulnerability about the exhaustion she felt following the success of Brat. She described feeling “stuck, empty, barren” and compared the pressure to “squeezing blood from a stone.” The immense popularity of the album left her feeling depleted, as if she was constantly running in place.
The turning point came in December 2024 with a text message from an unknown number. The sender was Oscar-winning director Emerald Fennell, whom Charli had only met once before. Fennell sent the singer the script for her new film, a provocative adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights.
Charli wrote, “I called Emerald and asked her what she was hoping for from my read of the script. She coyly suggested ‘A song?’ and I suggested ‘An album?’”
Immersing herself in the script’s world of raw passion and gothic drama pulled Charli out of her creative slump. She was drawn to the story’s stark contrast with her own life, describing it as “undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic, British, tortured and full of actual real sentences, punctuation and grammar.” The project felt entirely separate from the world of Brat, with “not a cigarette or a pair of sunglasses in sight.”
Crafting the “Elegant and Brutal” Sound of Wuthering Heights
Charli XCX began working on the album primarily with producer Finn Keane. She explained that their creative process was guided by a quote from Velvet Underground’s John Cale, who once described the band’s key sonic requirement as everything having to be both “elegant and brutal.” This phrase became their north star as they developed the album’s sound.
The pair recorded music on the road, renting studio spaces between tour stops for her Brat shows. One of the first tracks they created was “House,” which started as a mysterious idea. Months later, Charli decided to reach out to John Cale himself, hoping he might collaborate. To her surprise, he agreed and sent a poetic recitation for the song.
The resulting 12-song album, also titled Wuthering Heights, is scheduled for release on February 13, 2026, by Atlantic Records. The lead single, “House,” featuring John Cale, was released in November 2025. Charli admits she doesn’t know if this project counts as a traditional “Charli XCX album,” but she values it as a powerful “creative resurrection.”
Emerald Fennell’s Vision for a Primal and Sexual Adaptation
Director Emerald Fennell has publicly described her take on Wuthering Heights as “primal” and “sexual.” At the Brontë Women’s Writing Festival, she explained that her goal was to capture the intense emotional response she had when first reading the book at 14 years old.
Fennell said, “There’s an enormous amount of sado-masochism in this book. There’s a reason people were deeply shocked by it.”
Fennell’s film, set for theatrical release on February 14, 2026, stars Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff. The casting choices have drawn some discussion, particularly as Heathcliff is described in the original novel as “dark-skinned.” Fennell defended her decision, stating that Elordi reminded her of the illustration of Heathcliff from her first copy of the book. She praised Robbie as having an “otherworldly power” similar to the character of Cathy.
The movie’s trailer, which features steamy scenes between the lead actors, has already generated significant attention. Early reports from test screenings described the film as “aggressively provocative.”
A New Chapter for Charli XCX
This project marks a significant new artistic direction for Charli XCX. Following a period of burnout, the collaboration offered a chance to escape into persona-driven songwriting, creating music based on the feelings in a script rather than her own internal monologue. Her work on the Wuthering Heights album demonstrates a sharp left-turn from the sound of Brat, exploring darker, more gothic territory influenced by the Velvet Underground.
The singer has also expanded her creative presence beyond music, recently launching a Substack and sharing film reviews on Letterboxd. Her direct communication with fans through these new platforms offers a more personal and unfiltered look into her creative process.
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Credits: thecut.com, pitchfork.com
