Why Charli XCX’s Wall of Sound Makes the Wait for Wuthering Heights Worth It

: by Peter Källman • Reviews • 21 January 2026

Three tracks from Charli XCX have been released so far in anticipation of her upcoming album Wuthering Heights. This piece will focus on Wall of Sound, her latest release. Taken together, the three tracks feel like a kind of loading screen for the album. The first two tracks, House featuring John Cale and Wall of Sound, have a distinctly cinematic quality, as if they exist mainly to build atmosphere and tension. That said, they still sound great. Chains of Love feels like the most fully realized song of the three.

As a die-hard Charli fan, these tracks give me no clear sense of where the album is headed. Wall of Sound in particular feels more epic and cinematic than anything I have heard from her before. The track unfolds like one long breakdown, stretching and hovering rather than resolving. Somehow, Charli has already sold me on the album before it is even out. Maybe she is a master at this, or maybe I am just easily persuaded.

With Brat being such a massive success, it is hard to predict where Charli will go next. She may have been working on something entirely different alongside Brat, or perhaps its overwhelming popularity pushed her instincts in a new direction. Brat was undeniably influential. Like ripples spreading across water after an impact, its sound quickly echoed outward, with other artists drawing directly from Charli’s ideas. Watching this happen in real time has been fascinating. I have rarely seen other major artists so openly mirror one person’s work. I will not name names, but the point stands. It only underscores how influential Charli really is.

In the end, Wall of Sound tells me almost nothing concrete about Wuthering Heights. It is soft, swaying, and leaves the album feeling wide open with possibility. In the next few weeks, Wuthering Heights will be released, and we will finally get some answers.