THE BRILLIANCE BEHIND CHARLI XCX'S HALF-A-DECADE AWAITING “PARTY 4 U” MUSIC VIDEO
Credit of Atlantic Records. Protected under fair use.
Charli XCX has surprised fans with the long-awaited release of a music video for “party 4 u,” the fan-favorite track from her pandemic-era album How I’m Feeling Now. Teased throughout the album’s fifth-anniversary celebrations, the video dropped this week and finds the British pop provocateur staging a rebellious one-woman odyssey.
Directed by Mitch Ryan from a concept by Charli XCX herself, the clip opens on the aftermath of an epic house party. Charli awakens amid confetti and discarded streamers, dressed in a mini-dress and barefoot, before grabbing her handbag and slipping out into the morning light. What follows is a raw, unfiltered journey: she smokes a cigarette on a sidewalk, strips down to her underwear, and marches purposefully toward a massive billboard emblazoned with her own image.
As “party 4 u” builds to its now-viral outro, Charli sets the billboard ablaze, the flames mirrored by the roar of an imagined crowd. The sequence serves as a powerful metaphor for the song’s theme: the moment you realize someone you’ve chased will never show up, so you mask your hurt by getting “unbelievably f*cked up,” as Charli explained on TikTok. “Tears briefly fill your eyes but then you wipe them away, pretend you’re ok and proceed to get unbelievably fcked up,” she wrote, “and then spend the next week feeling completely ashamed of yourself.”
Credit of Atlantic Records. Protected under fair use.
Charli then appears and dances along to a playback of “party 4 u,” the snippet that went viral and set the stage for this cinematic follow-up.
“party 4 u” was originally recorded during the feverish five-week creation of How I’m Feeling Now, an album crafted publicly with input from her “Angels” fanbase in spring 2020. The Instagram announcement celebrated the album’s five-year milestone and thanked fans for their role in its making. “It was so special. I felt like I rediscovered myself, my sanity + my sense of connection with the world, at a time where we were all so alone,” she wrote, noting that she never imagined “one of the angel favorites” would resurface so strongly half a decade later.
Alongside the video, Charli XCX has released a limited-edition clear glitter vinyl of How I’m Feeling Now, giving collectors a tangible reminder of a record that turned adversity into innovation. As she embarks on film projects and prepares for upcoming live appearances, this viral moment underlines her enduring knack for turning personal vulnerability into anthemic pop art.
Watch the “party 4 u” music video here.
