Move Over Phil Spector, Charli XCX’s Latest Song From Wuthering Heights, “Wall of Sound,” Conveys a Level of Yearning on Par with Groups Like The Ronettes

Knowing Charli XCX and her love/appreciation for music, it would be unlikely that she wasn’t aware of the Phil Spector connection to a title like “Wall of Sound,” this being what is now her third song released from the Wuthering Heights Soundtrack (on the heels of “Chains of Love” back in November). And, to a certain extent, the Finn Keane/Justin Raisen-produced track does exude that signature sound, particularly as it starts to sonically crest toward the end.

Before that moment (a word that is now, along with “brat,” associated with Charli), however, there’s a slow build—what, to borrow a phrase from the lyrics themselves, amounts to an “unbelievable tension” that begins with a brief but impactful string arrangement. One that patently serves as a moody segue away from the even moodier “House” featuring John Cale. For “Wall of Sound” is the second track on the album and the one to follow “House” (which is a bold choice not only to kick off the record, but for Charli to have selected as her first post-Brat single). Switching from a tone that is utterly bereft of hope (more to the point, is the sonic embodiment of wrist-slitting), XCX then offers a vocal tone that is, let’s say, slightly more positive…even if still shrouded in a kind of misery. After all, Fennell herself stated that, for her, Wuthering Heights is all about what it “is to be in love to a catastrophic degree.” Much the same as it was for Romeo and Juliet. Indeed, it is usually the tale of the latter duo that gets billed as one of the greatest love stories of all time, while actually being one of the most emotionally (and physically) ruining. Yet, during the trailer for Wuthering Heights, the studio is sure to bill it as being “inspired by the greatest love story of all time.” Leaving out the fact that it’s actually one of the most toxic love stories of all time, and hardly the “greatest.”

XCX seems to know, somewhere deep down, that it’s at least partially her responsibility to convey the idea that this form of “no ordinary love” (as Sade would say) isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In other words, that being driven to madness by “love” can be quite, well, maddening. So it is that, as if speaking more from the perspective of Catherine Earnshaw (played by Margot Robbie in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation), XCX paints the picture of a woman who is, that’s right, coming undone. Unraveling. To do so, Charli eventually describes the mixture of emotions driving the love/hate relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff (with Jacob Elordi taking on that “sexy” role to complement Robbie in Fennell’s rendering of the novel). Hence, the lines, “Love and hatred/And I can’t escape it.”

Charli is also quick to name-check the song’s title almost immediately by declaring, “Wall of sound/No real reason/And I can’t escape it [repeatedly mentioning that she can’t escape only further serves to highlight the idea that this kind of all-consuming “love” is a prison]/Unbelievable tension/Wall of sound/Monolithic/So I’m gonna stay still.” Deciding to “stay still” (which can have a double meaning here: 1) “to remain in a position of stillness” and 2) “to not physically go away”) rather than trying to fight the feeling is an indication of the overpowering yet unseen force that overtakes Catherine every time she finds herself in Heathcliff’s presence. After all, like the intensity of emotions she feels whenever she’s around him, sound, too, can’t be seen. And, like sound, the feeling in question can have an effect that’s mind-altering, overwhelming and even “swoon-inducing.” To be sure, apart from smell, sound is the sense that is known for being the most evocative, most psychologically impacting. Capable of taking one back to a time and place in an instant.

With “Wall of Sound,” XCX is creating her own sonic imprint on listeners who will now forever associate 2026 as much with Wuthering Heights as they do 2024 with Brat. An album that, despite seeming dissimilar from the theme of the former, shares much in common with it in terms of expressing a kind of vulnerability that’s antithetically couched in a reluctance to be expressed. “Wall of Sound” makes that further apparent in the verse, “‘Cause every time I try/Talking myself backwards/Away from my desires/Something inside stops me, oh.” For, while Charli/Catherine wants so badly to be the “cool girl” and not admit to having anything like feelings, she inevitably can’t deny the lovesickness brimming to the surface (in this regard, too, “Wall of Sound” has some of the same yearning elements as Brat’s “Talk Talk”).  

And so, with a song that’s just two minutes and twenty-four seconds, XCX ingeniously manages to encapsulate Elordi-as-Heathcliff urging Robbie-as-Catherine, “Kiss me, and let us both be damned.” Not only that, but she also manages to associate herself with a style of music once exclusively associated with Spector and the bands he produced, including such legends as The Ronettes and The Crystals…with XCX doing her best to evince an updated version of that kind of pining.