There’s always been a blaze smoldering beneath Charli XCX ’s pop persona. With the new video for “Party 4 U,” she lets it erupt—literally—into a slow-burning inferno of vulnerability, rebellion, and self-made myth. Dropped on May 15 to mark the fifth anniversary of her lockdown-born opus How I’m Feeling Now, the video doesn’t just commemorate the past—it torches it.
We open on a hazy post-party morning: plastic cups, scattered confetti, and the solitary figure of Charli drifting through the ruins of what was clearly a night to remember—or forget. But this isn’t a hangover narrative. It’s a rebirth. As she walks through the suburban wreckage, stripping away layers of clothing, it feels more ceremonial than sexual—an emotional shedding.
And then comes the exclamation point. Charli approaches a billboard bearing her own face and sets it ablaze.
It’s a statement with zero subtlety and total impact. “Party 4 U” has always been one of her most emotionally naked tracks—a dizzy mix of yearning and restraint that plays out like a voicemail left at 3 a.m. for someone who never called back. But paired with this visual, it becomes something more. A confession becomes a confrontation. A viral TikTok hit morphs into high-concept pop performance art.
The song’s recent resurgence via TikTok—after quietly living on How I’m Feeling Now for half a decade—feels like a poetic twist. Suddenly, the song that once felt too intimate for the mainstream is everywhere. And instead of letting the moment pass her by, Charli stares it down and meets it with a middle finger dipped in glitter.
Speaking of glitter: she’s also dropped a limited-edition clear glitter vinyl reissue of How I’m Feeling Now, available through May 18. It’s a collector’s dream and a fitting physical artifact for a project that still pulses with digital-age anxiety, even five years later.
And if that means dancing alone at dawn, half-naked, torching your own image to the ground? Then that’s the party she’s throwing. And somehow, against all odds, it still feels like it’s for you.
