Worlds collide! Pop star Charli XCX wades deeper into the horror space with her forthcoming album, “Music, Fashion, Film,” a record that promises to explore the intersection of various media. The new concept album follows the singer’s 2024 blockbuster album “BRAT,” which spawned an online viral sensation with countless memes, videos, and photos.
Charli XCX reaches into the horror space to collaborate with one of the most iconic horror directors.
Charli XCX Collaborates With David Cronenberg
On July 7, Charli XCX shared an Instagram photo gallery, and one of the photos reveals her in the studio with legendary horror director David Cronenberg (“The Fly,” “Videodrome,” “Scanners”) . We should have seen it coming, though. At the end of her 2025 Coachella set, the pop singer projected several salutes to other pop stars (e.g., “Lorde Summer,” “Ethel Cain Summer” and “Haim Summer”), and she also gave a shout-out to Cronenberg with the words “Cronenberg Summer.”
In a 2025 Variety interview, Charli XCX named Cronenberg’s 2014 dark comedy “Maps to the Stars,” starring Julianne Moore and Robert Pattinson, among her most frequent watches. “I don’t necessarily go to movies to feel good,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong. There are definitely some movies that I love that are feel good, but I like a lot of sad and dark movies.”
She also revealed the album tracklist in her Instagram post, featuring the Cronenberg song title:
1. “Rock Music” (1.55)
2. “SS26” (2.46)
3. “Card Declined” (3.28)
4. “Camera” (2.31)
5. “2007” (2.04)
6. “I’m Afraid” (2.11)
7. “Yeah” (2.17)
8. “Wink Wink” (2.03)
9. “Persona” (2.37)
10 “Magic Metal Montana” (2.31)
11. “No One Lasts Forever,” featuring David Cronenberg (5.42)
Charli XCX Makes Horror Film Debut
Earlier this year, Charli XCX took a plunge into her very first horror film. Faces of Death, directed by Daniel Goldhaber, tells the story of a maniac killer (Dacre Montgomery) and a naive video content worker named Margot (Barbie Ferreira), who tries to solve a series of murders after flagging a mysterious video. Charli XCX plays Margot’s cynical tech-obsessed coworker Gabby, and joins a lineup of talent, including Jermaine Fowler (“The Blackening,” “Night Patrol,” “Judas and the Black Messiah”) and Josie Totah (“Other People,” “Handsome”).
Charli XCX will star in another iconic horror director’s film. Takashi Miike, known for such classics as “Audition,” “Ichi the Killer” and “One Missed Call,” is currently working on a slasher. The film, also starring Milly Alcock (“Supergirl”), Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”), actres-model-singer Kiko Mizuhara (“Attack on Titan) and Show Kasamatsu (“Tokyo Vice”), tells the story of three friends who meet up in Kyoto. One of them (Charli XCX) is then possessed by an evil spirit.
The pop star has also flexed her acting muscles in numerous other non-horror projects. Produced by A24, “The Moment” made its premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, as did “The Gallerist” and “I Want Your Sex.” She previously starred in “Sacrifice” and “100 Nights of Hero.”
Charli XCX’s “Music, Fashion, Film” arrives on July 24, 2026, via Atlantic Records.
