New Track
Charli XCX Shatters Expectations — and Furniture — in Surreal ‘Chains of Love’ Music Video
Charli XCX has officially entered her Wuthering Heights era, dropping the fiercely theatrical music video for “Chains of Love,” the newest single from her upcoming companion album to Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation. Directed by C Prinz, the video blends gothic grandeur with supernatural chaos as Charli XCX confronts an unseen force inside an empty dining hall that seems determined to unmake reality around her.
The short film-style clip builds tension with every beat: cutlery launches across the room, candlesticks topple, and the massive banquet table levitates as though possessed. The climax is pure catharsis — Charli XCX stomps through the glass tabletop, exploding it into a storm of glittering shards. It’s violent, beautiful, and unmistakably Charli.
Sonic and Visual Inspiration: “Elegant and Brutal”
“Chains of Love” follows her recent single “House,” featuring avant-rock legend John Cale, who directly helped inspire the musical direction of the album. Charli XCX revealed that a quote from Cale in Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground documentary became the guiding philosophy: music must be both “elegant and brutal.”
“I wrote that phrase in my notes app and kept returning to it,” she said. The video brings that contrast to life — refined imagery colliding with raw emotional rupture.
A Companion Album Steeped in Gothic Emotion
The track is part of the full Wuthering Heights companion album, which Charli XCX crafted alongside Finn Keane and Justin Raisen. Though not a traditional solo album, it marks her first major project since the cultural phenomenon that was Brat.
The inspiration came unexpectedly in 2024, when Charli XCX received a mysterious text from Emerald Fennell. “I began to sink into this reimagined world of Wuthering Heights… passion, pain, mud, cold, grit,” she wrote. Driven by the intensity of Emily Brontë’s story, Charli pushed the idea past a single track, ultimately proposing an entire album to match the film’s emotional landscape.
The movie — starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi — arrives February 14, 2026, with the album landing one day prior.
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Fans Draw “True Romance” Comparisons
Online, fans are calling “Chains of Love” a return to Charli’s True Romance energy: dramatic synths, cinematic atmosphere, and an emotional edge sharper than glass under her boots. The surreal visuals only amplify the feverish anticipation for the full album.
A New Peak in the Wuthering Heights Rollout
Between bold singles, haunting visuals, and an ambitious conceptual album, Charli’s Wuthering Heights rollout is shaping up to be one of her most creatively daring eras yet. If “Chains of Love” is any indication, listeners should prepare for a world steeped in gothic passion, brutal beauty, and the unmistakable charisma of Charli XCX.
