Charli XCX Drops New Synth Stunner ‘SS26’

Charli XCX is ringing in the warmer months on her new single “SS26.”

“Spring Summer 26/When the world is gonna end no hope for any of it,” Charli sings over subtle synths. “Yeah we’re walking on a runway that goes straight to hell.” The song’s video is directed by Torso, who previously worked with Charli on the airport-themed “Von Dutch” video during the Brat era. It features Charlie walking in various devastating outfits down a runway flanked by spotlights and a shadowy audience before the star eventually walks off the end and into the abyss.

Charli revealed “SS26” earlier this week, when she posted the lyrics on her Substack. On Thursday, hours before the release, she posted a video of her cutting the track in Paris, alongside her collaborators A.G. Cook and Finn Keane. Charli sings into the mic, while the crew orders Japanese whiskey, a bottle of Sancerre, and a bucket of ice into the studio.

“SS26” follows Charli’s recent single “Rock Music,” and its B side “I Keep on Thinking Bout You Every Single Day and Night” (the latter only available on vinyl and Instagram). The reaction to “Rock Music” was divisive, specifically the line where Charli declared that “the dance floor is dead,” across blistering riffs.

Days later, when she dropped a behind-the-scenes look at the video, she addressed the internet’s reaction. “I’m not gonna explain where I was coming from with ‘Rock Music,’ but all I know is that things can be funny, earnest, sincere, and joyful all at the same time,” she said. “And that’s what I feel about a lot of the things I make.”

She’s doubled down on this in recent tweets, writing that she’s “not trying to repel people away” or convince them into liking her. “If you get me, you get me,” she said. “And if you don’t, you don’t. And thats ok <3”