Wuthering Heights Soundtrack by Charli XCX: A Deep Dive

Wuthering Heights by the one and only Charli XCX is truly only a piece of work that only an artist like Charli could come up with. This album is a music production master class, and the sound makes me fully believe that the 1800s had MIDI technology and sound engineering capabilities.

Charli just knows how to do it. She made the most extraordinary sounding album for a period piece, but somehow still made it so distinctly her sound. 

My first thought when I found out that Charli XCX was producing the soundtrack for a period piece movie, especially a story like Wuthering Heights I went, “Brat Charli XCX, like “Club Classics” Charli XCX?”, and I think that is justified. She tried something new, but she did it all while making sure to tie her sound to it. XCX used her usual auto-tuned vocals, Techno and Europop sounds, and added new aspects like string instruments into the rotation. The sound of this album seems like something new, but when you really listen to it you see that this is, in fact, something that Charli would produce.

Without diving too much into the movie, here is a quick summary of the plot so that you can grasp exactly why a lot of the songs on Wuthering Heights talk about the things they do: Wuthering Heights, with the original book being authored by Emily Brontë, follows two deeply and emotionally intertwined people, Catherine and Heathcliff, who are plagued by the separation of social class, the recurrence of tragedy, and the thirst for revenge.

With this plot in mind, let's look at the version of the story Charli XCX decided to tell through her album.

I Think I’m Gonna Die In This House​​

This category is for the tortured aspects of this album, the representation of the absolute horrors a lot of the characters go through in the story. To start off, we have “House featuring John Cale” which literally touches on the fact that these characters are in these large and elaborate homes, yet they feel trapped, physically and mentally. No one in this story is having fun, and John Cale’s contribution to this song through his spoken word poem shows that.

Next, we have “Wall of Sound” which, once again, shows the relentless cycle of wanting to love, wanting to escape their supposed “perfect” lives, and wanting to go towards what (or who) they love. XCX highlights the never ending cycle by saying, “‘Cause everytime I try / Talking myself backwards / Away from my desires / Something inside stops me, oh”. Tragedy makes for great lyrics, am I right?

Now most of the songs on the tracklist could corroborate the element of painful torture and groveling, but I feel as if these two really highligh the idea of a “trapped” character.

Yeah, I Could Move On, Or I Could Just…Not

This next category is really my favorite because it highlights the emotions that these characters are going through and also somehow highlights every single character flaw they have. In particular, the song “Chains of Love” highlights the mental state of 99% of these characters. The lyrics, “I’d rather die in a stream / I’d rather light myself on fire” really accomplishes the push and pull of the relationships between multiple characters, especially Catherine and Heathcliff.

Another song that falls into this category is “Altars” which is quite literally about falling on your knees in front of someone and begging, and no matter what, not being able to get away or move on from them. If you have not already noticed, groveling is a massive theme here. The lyrics, “I’m at your altar, baby / I once believed, I once believed I was free / I’m at your altar baby / I once believed, I once believed I was free” spell this out quite nicely. So interpret that one as you please, but there is no doubt that a story of deep attachment is unfolding.

Like the previous category, the majority of the songs on the album can fall onto this list, but in my humble opinion, these ones really outline the message.

Love Is A Drug

This is the final category I want to look at, and I think it is the most fun. It is the category that looks at the songs that show that no matter how intense these relationships are, this is still a grand love story.

The first song in this category is “Dying For You”, which to me, is easily the most catchy song, and really the only song on this album that highlights that actual genuine love between Catherine and Heathcliff (even if that love is extremely unnerving). “All the pain and torture that i went through / All makes sense to me now, I was dying for you / I was dying for you / I was dying for you”, are just some of the lyrics that recognize that yes, these two were genuine lovers and had a deep connection.

Now to play devil's advocate for Catherine and Heathcliff, these two have been around each other since they were two apples tall, they are quite literally childhood sweethearts. “My Reminder” looks at the aspects of these two that can explain why their relationship is the way it is. “I’m not gonna be your bitter rival / We grew together in these four walls / This competition and this tension so strong / A blood relation I can't outrun” is a complicated way to say that these two are the way they are because they were involved in every aspect of each other's lives.

Final Thoughts

“Wuthering Heights”, the movie adaptation, the book, and the Charli XCX album were never centered around the most loving and nurturing relationship, but nonetheless it is what many would consider a “great love” type of relationship.

Charli put together an album that took so many modern day elements, especially when it came to the sound production, and sprinkled in things like orchestral sounds and grand voices to tie into the 1800s time frame that “Wuthering Heights” takes place in. I thought this album was very much a “Charli XCX style album”, and was definitely my favorite aspect of this movie.