Charli xcx just announced her follow-up to 2024’s Brat, and it’s a direct tie-in with Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s literary classic. Titled Wuthering Heights and dropping on Feb. 13, 2026, one day before the film hits theaters, Charli’s upcoming project features songs she wrote for the film, which the “360” artist said allowed her to explore her creativity in a new way.

Charli took to Substack on Wednesday to write about the release of her upcoming album, which she said came about after Fennell, who also directed Saltburn and Promising Young Woman, texted her “out of the blue” about collaborating. Fennell, who previously used Charli’s song “Boys” in Promising Young Woman, sent Charli the “Wuthering Heights” script. As she read it, the pop star began to feel “inspired,” immersing herself in a story that was “steeped in history.”

“I was purely a voyeur and I was enjoying being one,” Charli wrote. “The language of this world felt so opposite from the world I had been inhabiting for the past 2 and a half years. I began to feel a sense of freedom again.”

When Fennell asked Charli to write a song for the film, Charli instead suggested she write an entire album for the movie, explaining that she was eager to dive into a world that was “undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic, British, tortured and full of actual real sentences, punctuation and grammar.” She teamed up with producer Finn Keane and, later, the two connected with John Cale of the Velvet Underground for the track “House,” which she released a music video for earlier this week.

On Thursday, Charli released the second song from the album to coincide with the “Wuthering Heights” trailer. Titled “Chains of Love,” in the song — which appears in the full trailer for the film — Charli sings of a painful love akin to the one Cathy (played by Margot Robbie in the “Wuthering Heights” film) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi) experience onscreen.

“I’d rather lay down in thorns/I’d rather drown in a stream/I’d rather light myself on fire/I’d rather wear all these scars/I’d rather watch my skin bleed/In the eye of your storm,” Charli sings.

Charli xcx’s dive into  the film world

Charli shared on her Substack that the experience of working on “Wuthering Heights” came at a time when film was inspiring her in more areas than music alone.

In the wake of Brat’s success, Charli announced that she is working on the A24 film The Moment, which is based on a story she wrote. The artist is set to produce and star in what will be her debut film, opposite Alexander Skarsgård, Rachel Sennott and Kylie Jenner.

Charli also recently appeared in Sacrifice, opposite Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans, and will act in the upcoming film 100 Nights of Hero with Maika Monroe and Emma Corrin.

On the TV side, Charli serves as the executive music producer for the Prime Video series Overcompensating and appeared as herself in one episode.