Charli XCX declares the end of BRAT following the release of her Wuthering Heights soundtrack. The 12 tracks are a collaboration with songwriters and producers Finn Keane and Justin Raisen.
Her second soundtrack album after Bottoms in 2023, Charli’s companion soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s movie adaptation of Emily Brontë classic Wuthering Heights has been widely praised for capturing the film’s emotional depth. A stark departure from the zeitgeist that came before it.
“Wall of Sound” is one of the record’s clearest mission statements that doubles as her third promotional single for the record. It swells gradually, layering percussion and distorted synths until the track feels physically heavy. There is a push and pull between beauty and abrasion that sums up the album’s core tension. Charli’s vocal floats above the chaos with a cool detachment, which only makes the emotional undercurrent feel more intense.
Lyrically, Wuthering Heights leans into heightened drama without tipping into parody. Charli writes about love as a consuming force, something intoxicating and destructive in equal measure. Her words feel intentionally theatrical, matching the album’s grand, stormy production. There is a sense of characters playing out doomed romances in real time, each track another chapter in a story that refuses a happy ending.
“Every since I can remember, I’ve felt it in my bones/ A tragic destiny reserved for me all on my own,” Charli mourns in “Dying For You,” as a brooding thesis of the album’s theatrical companion.
The shift in production from her previous works is what will make this record hold its own weight. The use of strings is haunting and creates a concept that continues to push the star into new boundaries. In quieter moments, a single sustained note can feel like a held breath, stretching the space around her vocal and making even simple lines sound loaded with consequence. When the arrangements bloom, they do so with a controlled chaos
The album and film’s themes of moving on without ever truly moving on resemble a haunting metaphor for the death of BRAT, but a film score might have been the perfect move for the songstress. With a clear focus and cohesive sound, I’d say the release is a success.
