Charli XCX Turns the Camera on Herself With New Single "Camera"

Charli XCX is easing off the club-ready intensity of Brat and leaning into something quieter with her new single "Camera." The track arrives as the latest preview of her upcoming album Music, Fashion, Film, out this Friday via Atlantic, following earlier singles "Rock Music," "SS26," and "Wink Wink." It's a guitar-led, mid-tempo cut that trades in some of her harder electronic instincts for a more personal, hazier tone. Lyrically, the song finds Charli wrestling with self-doubt about branching into acting, questioning whether pursuing a screen career at this stage of her life is the right move. That vulnerability carries through to the video, directed by longtime collaborator Aidan Zamiri, which stars Vincent Cassel as an actor unraveling on a film set while Charli directs from behind an oversized camera rig. Cassel leans into his own screen history here, referencing his famous pose from La Haine as tension builds. Zamiri's fingerprints are all over this era of Charli's visual identity — he's directed several of her previous videos and even helmed her mockumentary feature debut. He also shot the stark black-and-white album artwork for Music, Fashion, Film, which features cultural figures including John Cale, Marc Jacobs, and Martin Scorsese, reinforcing the record's overlapping themes. The rollout continues to build ahead of the album's release, with Charli having already previewed unreleased material at an intimate Brooklyn show alongside guests like Kim Petras, Clairo, and Underscores. She's set to headline Reading & Leeds next month before launching a North American arena tour with Underscores in September, making "Camera" feel less like a standalone moment and more like the emotional throughline for everything coming next.