“I sent him some songs… he recorded something and sent it to me. And it was… well, it made me cry”: Charli XCX on how a phrase John Cale once used about the Velvet Underground’s music led to their new Wuthering Heights collaboration

Charli XCX and John Cale.

Charli XCX has long been vocal about her love of the Velvet Underground and frequently namechecks Lou Reed in her interviews, but it still comes as something of a surprise to learn that House, the first song to be released from Emerald Fennell’s upcoming film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, features John Cale.

Cale, of course, was one of the Velvet Underground’s founding members, and in an Instagram story, Charli XCX told the story of how she ended up collaborating with him.