Charli XCX sets herself on fire in new music video for old song, ‘Party 4 U’
Global sensation Charli XCX has unexpectedly released a new video for ‘Party 4 U’, a song from an album released five years ago.
Despite never being released as an official single, ‘Party 4 U’ is one of Charli’s highest trending songs on streaming platforms in recent months. The video arrives on the fifth anniversary of the release of Charli’s acclaimed album, How I’m Feeling Now.
In an Instagram post on May 14th, she explained the decision to honour the album in this way: “It honestly just feels like yesterday. So much has changed since then. Me, my life, elements of my music and most definitely the world. I made the album in just 5 weeks, from conception to release, entirely publicly in collaboration with all of you.”
She continued in the post: “I felt like I rediscovered myself, my sanity + my sense of connection with the world, at a time where we were all so alone. To create with all of you helped me feel OK. It was all of us at our most raw, our most stripped, our most vulnerable. I will never forget it, and I really can’t believe that 5 years later one of the angel favorites is having its own special moment. So obviously I wanted to do something to celebrate… This ones for you angels. Love, Charli.”
In the Mitch Ryan-directed video, the singer walks through the countryside in party attire, which she slowly removes in frustration. Later, after stripping to her underwear, she faces a billboard which shows her face, enlarged, looking back at her.
In a bold move, Charli climbs the ladder to the billboard and begins pulling at it furiously, attempting to rip up the image. She splashes it and herself with black paint. Eventually, she takes a lighter to the artwork. As it catches fire, she sits on a sofa before the inferno, smoking a cigarette and staring into the distance, forlorn.
This isn’t the first time Charli has defaced her own content. Recently, the Brat covered has been updated on all streaming platforms so that the title is scribbled out and scratched, and rust seems to be rising from the bottom.
Despite her intent to self-sabotage recent creations, Charli has plenty of upcoming projects under her sleeve. Most notably, she is turning to the film world, as she is set to produce and star in Takashi Miike’s new horror film.
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