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‘Brat’ was a cultural phenomenon at the time of its release. You know that, I know that. Even the would-be president of the U.S at the time was being branded with the endearing title. It was something that resembled a form of monoculture, which in today’s splintered internet age is a genuine miracle. The excitement this project generated, the memes it created, the quality of the music itself, was enough to finally make Charli a serious household name. A household name serious enough to land her a spot creating a soundtrack to Emerald Fennell’s film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s acclaimed only novel ‘Wuthering Heights’. That level of serious. A first for her career, she had the chance to deliver an auditory spectacle. Something as starry-eyed and dramatic as the actual contents of ‘Wuthering Heights’. Charli could establish herself as a jack-of-all-trades, and add another notch to her stacked creative belt… *sigh* ~ daydream fades ~
Here’s the thing. The album ‘Wuthering Heights’ is actually rather tame by Charli’s usual lofty pop standards. This is somewhat understandable given that what we have here is all soundtrack music. It needs to translate to audiences internationally, hence the familiar pulses of plenty of modern day alt-pop. However, these are still songs, and should be held to the same standards as any other. Movie soundtrack music can still be thoroughly crafted, even in a more reserved state. The unfortunate problem with a decent chunk of this project is that Charli seems to have lost a bit of her bite, particularly as a hook writer. Vocally, it’s par for the course, though even then she barely musters up the gusto to go toe-to-toe with these typically glamourous instrumentals. Essentially, the big appeal of this album is that it’s some classically-tinged electro-pop meant to colour in the blanks of a hyped new film. Could it survive off that alone? Not unless the music itself was ticking all the boxes. Is it lush? Yes. Is it all that memorable beyond the surface-level aesthetic? I’m gonna say that’s a no.
The hype of its lead single “House”, featuring rock legend John Cale’s vocals, was as invigorating as it was curious. The spectral drone of its string section giving way to an ineffable climax. It is perhaps one of the only moments of proper brilliance, the same heights (no pun intended) never quite being attained. Because besides this, there’s the muted yet poetic “Dying For You”. The only real earworm to speak of, it gets by off the back of its macabre imagery evoking dangerous love. The universality of the following “Always Everywhere” is perhaps the best showcase of string-kissed balladry. It is too unfortunate that it doesn’t receive the same support or enforcement from the tracklist that follows. Too often, either Charli or the backing instrumentation cannot be arsed to actually get moving. This is much the case for the penultimate “My Reminder”, where the beat’s lousy disposition and XCX’s aloof performance culminate into a whimper, rather than anything alluring.
Now I suppose it’s a matter of if the film is any good. Does this tracklist’s innately decadent nature become enhanced by it? Will any additional scoring cause these moments to light up? As cool as this opportunity is for Charli, I can’t help but feel like she may have been check-chasing a little bit. The music itself is not all that captivating as standalone material, so I can only hope for the film’s sake that it compliments the atmosphere. I don’t want to go as far as to say she’s completely phoned it in, but I have to ponder on this thing’s greater potential. For as grandiose as the sound of this thing was slated to be, the end result is about as gratifying as an empty promise. There are no other cuts that get as freakish as “House”, or as sticky as “Dying For You”. This being technically a follow-up to her last album too, why would you not want to try and keep that momentum going? It doesn’t make sense to me. I’m just going to have to catch the movie when I can. Maybe that will answer some of my questions.
Dan Will Review 