In a stunning musical departure, pop innovator Charli XCX has joined forces with Velvet Underground legend John Cale for a haunting new track titled 'House', created specifically for director Emerald Fennell's forthcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights.
A Radical Departure from Brat
The song marks Charli XCX's first new material in over a year and represents what she describes as 'something entirely new, entirely opposite' to the sound that defined her critically acclaimed album Brat. Where Brat pulsed with contemporary electronic energy, House embraces a darkly gothic atmosphere inspired by Cale's own description of the Velvet Underground's sound as 'elegant and brutal'.
True to this inspiration, the track features droning strings, shards of jagged feedback-like noise, and overwhelming distortion that dominates its final minute. The collaborative spirit sees Charli generously ceding two-thirds of the vocal space to her 82-year-old counterpart.
John Cale's Ominous Presence
Cale delivers a powerful spoken-word monologue that begins conversationally but grows increasingly threatening. His voice, weathered by time yet immediately recognisable to music aficionados, remains the same rich, sonorous instrument that narrated Lou Reed's grisly short story The Gift on White Light/White Heat fifty-seven years ago.
The track concludes with Charli XCX unleashing agonised howls that echo Cale's historical tendency to disrupt music with unsettling noise during his Velvet Underground days. The musical arrangement calls back to Cale's pioneering work, from the demonic hisses in The Black Angel's Death Song to the chaotic chair-dragging experimentation of European Son.
Beyond the Velvet Underground
While the Velvet Underground's influence dominates, other inspirations emerge throughout the composition. When the beat finally arrives, listeners can detect the shadow of Nine Inch Nails in its industrial texture.
How exactly House will function within Fennell's reinterpretation of the classic novel remains unclear, though listeners might connect Cale's oblique lyrics to the tragic fates of Catherine and Heathcliff. The track's alternating creepy and cathartic energy could equally suit another of Charli XCX's upcoming film projects - Daniel Goldhaber's movie based on the notorious 1978 mondo horror Faces of Death.
Some might argue the timing misses a commercial opportunity, as horror-themed music often sees chart surges around Halloween. However, House requires no seasonal gimmick to make its impact. The collaboration stands as a powerful, striking artistic statement that opens fertile new territory for both artists.
