Five years after its understated launch, Charli XCX's beloved "party 4 u" is finally presented with the video it truly deserves, emerging as strikingly poignant and evocative as the song itself. Initially a whispered favorite among fans, it has evolved into a viral sensation. Now, with a video directed by Mitch Ryan that beautifully illustrates the yearning solitude at its heart, the track takes on a pivotal role in a new chapter of Charli’s journey. This isn’t just any celebration; it’s a moment of reckoning.
Stream: “party 4 u” – Charli XCX
There's something almost poetic about a pop artist finally unveiling a video for a track that has quietly resided on the fringes of their narrative for almost a decade. On the fifth anniversary of how i’m feeling now—the lockdown-era masterpiece that solidified Charli XCX as a bold creator in modern pop—the cherished and gradually building anthem "party 4 u" finally receives the visual representation it has long merited. With Mitch Ryan at the helm and a concept conceived by Charli, the video arrives like a time capsule revealed at just the right moment. True to Charli’s style, it’s not a mere repetition; it’s a revival.
When “party 4 u” was first released in 2020, it wasn't really a "drop." It felt more like a gentle exhale, shared amidst the turmoil of quarantine, on an album created in real-time as fans engaged closely online. The song already wielded a cult-like charm, having circulated through whispers at live shows and blurry YouTube clips since Charli showcased it in Tokyo years earlier.
However, it wasn’t until 2025, fueled by a TikTok renaissance of the second verse and a BRAT-driven comeback, that “party 4 u” truly reentered the pop landscape. Now, it boasts over 4 million creations and 5 billion views on the platform—figures that still seem surreal for a song that once lingered in demo obscurity.
Charli xcx © Stolen Besos
As for the video, it is a masterpiece of subtlety. Commencing with Charli alone in a space filled with the sparkling remnants of a once-forgotten celebration, the Mitch Ryan-directed imagery captures the pain of unreciprocated effort with striking precision. Balloons lose air. Streamers droop. There’s no honored guest. This party is for a ghost, and Charli, quintessentially the anti-pop star, drifts through it not with anger, but with a far more haunting emotion: resignation.
Clad in a sheer, layered outfit that seems to dissolve as she traverses the desert, Charli reflects the gradual disintegration of hope itself. There is no pleading; she is in mourning. The usual energetic flair of hyperpop is absent, replaced instead by dust, sunlight, and solitude. The video’s desolate, empty vistas and intimate close-ups echo the vulnerability that made “how i’m feeling now” such an impactful emotional experience. Where BRAT feels like a wild expedition through the mind of a pop provocateur, “party 4 u” captures the descent afterwards, when the lights flicker back on and no one else shows up.
Yet, it's important to reflect on why this track has endured.
“party 4 u” represents Charli at her most subdued, yet sonically, it is remarkably piercing. The production, led by long-time collaborator A.G. Cook, is airy and delicate, resisting the typical climactic build found in many pop pieces. Instead, it simmers with synths and longing, grounded by achingly particular lyrics: “One thousand pink balloons / DJ with your favorite tunes / Birthday cake in August / But you were born the nineteenth of June.” It possesses a Gatsby-like grandeur while being delivered with punk ethos—throwing the most extravagant party imaginable just for one person, who doesn’t even attend.
When Charli introduced the rapid-fire second verse in 2020, “Pull up on your body / Like it’s summer, take my clothes off in the water / Splash around and get you blessed like holy water / I don’t know what you were waiting for,” she crafted what has become the viral essence of the song. It’s playful yet poignant, a blend of sexuality and sorrow that feels both effortless and painful. This year's TikTok eruption felt destined.
The music video portrays Charli in the disorienting aftermath of a party meant for someone who never arrived.
Navigating a day that feels both ecstatic and disheveled, she shifts from messy rooms to vast desert landscapes, shedding layers of glamour and facade along the way. It’s chaotic, impulsive, and electrifying, culminating in a striking act of self-immolation-as-rebirth: igniting a towering Charli XCX billboard. The message is unmistakable; this
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Five years after its understated release, Charli XCX's beloved track "party 4 u" finally receives the visual treatment it deserves, blooming late in the desert, as haunting and emotionally charged as the song itself. Initially a whispered favorite among fans, it has transformed into a viral hit, and now, with a video directed by Mitch Ryan that encapsulates the profound loneliness at its heart, the song steps into the spotlight in a new chapter of Charli’s legacy. This is more than just a party; it’s a moment of realization.