Last month, Charli XCX caused a stir among fans and electronic music purists when it was reported that she’d told Vogue magazine that “the dance floor is dead, now we’re making rock music.” Turns out it was just a quote from her new single, titled plainly “Rock Music.”
Charli’s Wuthering Heights soundtrack, released earlier this year, moved the singer back toward the synth-pop stylings of her early work, and “Rock Music,” though not quite a rock song, nudges her even further from the hyperpop of 2024’s Brat. Produced by Charli and frequent collaborators A.G. Cook and Finn Keane, the lo-fi track, which concisely clocks in at less than two minutes, is a living tribute to her circle of co-conspirators: “Me and my friends…We make stuff together…We kiss each other, real incestuous vibes,” Charli sings over a bed of crunchy guitar riffs, her voice doused in about as much Auto-Tune as you’d expect.
The music video for “Rock Music,” which was directed by Aidan Zamiri, opens with Charli nonchalantly tossing a TV set out of a hotel window. Alternating between stark black-and-white and full color, the clip gloriously revels in rock-‘n’-roll cliché: smashed guitars, head-banging crowds, and literal mountains of cigarettes.
Watch the video for “Rock Music” below:
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