Charli xcx inspired by Kate Bush, Shakespears Sister and The Cure on Wuthering Heights soundtrack album
Charli xcx and Emerald Fennell listed the same artists as inspirations for her Wuthering Heights soundtrack album, which accompanies the director's 2026 big screen version of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel.
Charli XCX was inspired by Shakespears Sister, The Cure and "obviously Kate Bush" when she wrote the Wuthering Heights soundtrack album.
The 33-year-old pop star was approached by writer-and-director Emerald Fennell in December 2024 to create a collection of songs for her big screen adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights which stars Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff.
Jacob and Margot at the Wuthering Heights premiere / Credit: FAMOUS
Charli and Emerald, 40, discussed musical inspirations for the intense story of love and revenge and there was a synergy in their points of reference and artists, which of course included music legend Bush, 67, who topped the charts in 1978 with Wuthering Heights, which was inspired by the book.
Speaking to the BBC at the film's UK premiere in London on Thursday night (05.02.26) about the soundtrack, Charli said: "I always like to work with polar opposites, and so this was honestly a dream project for me.
"When I first started making music, I was so inspired by, you know, so many of the references that Emerald and I were talking about, like Shakespears Sister to The Cure to, obviously, Kate Bush ... So this was, yeah, it was really heavenly to work on this."
Charli's own film career is taking off. She has roles in Erupcja, Nights of Hero, The Gallerist and Faces of Death - directot Daniel Goldhaber's remake of the notorious 1978 cult horror film of the same name.
The Apple singer is also starring in The Moment, her new mockumentary film, in which she plays a fictionalised version of herself trying to cope with the Brat phenomenon.
Charli xcx at LA premiere of The Moment / Credit: Getty Images
Speaking at a Q+A in Brooklyn, New York, Charli - who released her acclaimed Brat album in June 2024 - said: "I play — I hope — a slightly different version of my real self in this film. I don't think I'm quite that much of a nightmare the whole time, but I wouldn't really be the best person to ask about that.
"The thing about the Charli in the film is all of the scenarios that my character in the film goes through could have happened if I made slightly different decisions in my own life and in my own career.
"Obviously I assume that most of you here know that this is not what happened when it came to Brat and going on tour and things like that."
The Moment also stars Rosanna Arquette, Jamie Demetriou, Hailey Benton Gates, Isaac Powell, and Alexander Skarsgard as well as featuring a cameo from Kylie Jenner.
