Singer Charli XCX has released a new collaboration with former Velvet Underground multi-instrumentalist and singer John Cale.
House is the first track released from Charli XCX’s score for Emerald Fennel’s film adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights, and features a spoken word part from Cale accompanied by his signature harsh viola, before a screamed chorus of "I think I’m gonna die in this house".
Announcing the song last week, the 33-year-old singer, whose real name is Charlotte Aitchison, said in a post on Instagram that she was a "huge fan" of the 1960s Lou Reed-led band.
She said she was inspired by Todd Haynes’s 2021 documentary about the New York band, and the way Cale described their need to create songs that were both "elegant and brutal".
The singer said: "So I decided to reach out to him to get his opinion on the songs that his phrase had so deeply inspired, but also to see whether he might want to collaborate on any.
"We got connected, we spoke on the phone and wow… that voice, so elegant, so brutal, I sent him some songs and we started talking specifically about House.
"We spoke about the idea of a poem. He recorded something and sent it to me. Something that only John could do. And it was… well, it made me cry."
A video for the new single shows the singer lying in a bed in a house in the forest, as Welsh singer Cale stands over her reciting his lines, before putting his hand on her head as a raven is shown flying away.
The pair are later seen in the forest with Charli kneeling on the ground in a white dressing and whipping her hair into the air, before running off at the video’s conclusion.
In her Instagram post, she added: "After being so in the depths of my previous album (2024’s Brat) I was excited to escape into something entirely new, entirely opposite.
"When I think of Wuthering Heights I think of many things. I think of passion and pain. I think of England. I think of the Moors, I think of the mud and the cold. I think of determination and grit."
Cale, 83, was a founding member of The Velvet Underground along with singer and guitarist Reed, drummer Moe Tucker, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and singer Nico.
He featured on their first album The Velvet Underground And Nico and second album White Light/White Heat before going solo.
The band’s best known songs with Cale include Sunday Morning, I’m Waiting For The Man, Femme Fatale, and I’ll Be Your Mirror, while Cale has released 19 studio albums as a solo artist, including Songs For Drella, which saw him reunite with Reed.
Charli XCX soared to new levels of fame following the release of her culture-shaping sixth studio album in June 2024, and is best known for her blend of hyper-pop, electronica and dance music.
Her best known songs include Guess, Von Dutch and I Love It, recorded with Swedish duo Icona Pop.
Fennell’s psychological thriller, which stars Barbie actress Margot Robbie and Saltburn star Jacob Elordi, will premiere in February 2026.
Source: Press Association
