Charli XCX has released a striking new music video for “Residue,” a track by her longtime collaborator A.G. Cook, continuing a creative partnership that has helped define modern experimental pop. The video arrived on January 27, 2026, and features Charli front and center, blurring the line between performer, persona, and recurring symbol. “Residue” appears on The Moment (The Score), the soundtrack accompanying The Moment, a satirical mockumentary connected to Charli’s Brat era.
Rather than functioning as a standalone visual, the video feels deliberately embedded in a larger narrative. It extends the aesthetics and ideas Charli has been circling for the past year, pushing them further into something colder, stranger, and more self-aware.
A Warehouse, a Cigarette, and a Familiar Silhouette
The video opens with Charli staring directly into the camera, cigarette in hand, dressed in a white tank top, black leather shorts, and boots. The look recalls imagery already associated with her Brat era, grounding the visual in a recognisable version of Charli before destabilising it. After dropping the cigarette and putting on sunglasses, she walks into a cavernous, dimly lit warehouse as A.G. Cook’s warped, wobbling synths take hold.
Inside the space, Charli is no longer singular. Multiple versions of her appear throughout the warehouse, standing still, watching, or moving in fragments of choreography. These replicas are dressed similarly, reinforcing the idea that this is not about costume changes or characters, but repetition. The camera lingers, letting the duplicates accumulate rather than explaining them away.
Text, Movement, and the Weight of Repetition
As the video unfolds, flashes of text interrupt the visuals. Phrases like “Don’t let it be over,” “I never go home,” and “Dead horse” appear briefly, puncturing the hypnotic rhythm without offering clear answers. They land like intrusive thoughts, reinforcing the song’s title and the idea of something that lingers even after it is supposedly finished.
Toward the center of the video, the warehouse fills with Charli lookalikes standing in formation before a strobing screen. When they finally move together, the choreography feels ritualistic rather than celebratory. The repetition becomes the point. “Residue” isn’t about escalation or release. It’s about what remains when a pop moment has already peaked and refuses to disappear.
A Final Cameo and a Knowing Smile
Just as the video seems content to sit in its own echo chamber, it delivers one last moment designed to ripple outward. Kylie Jenner appears briefly at the end of the video, smoking a cigarette and staring into the camera. The cameo is short, deliberate, and impossible to miss.
Rather than feeling random, the appearance fits neatly into the video’s themes. Another hyper-visible figure steps into Charli’s world, reinforcing ideas of cultural saturation, celebrity mirroring, and the way images circulate long after their original context fades.
Part of a Bigger Picture
“Residue” is one piece of The Moment (The Score), which accompanies The Moment, a film directed by Aidan Zamiri that blends fiction and reality around Charli XCX’s Brat era. Other tracks from the score were released earlier, positioning “Residue” as a late-stage reflection rather than an introduction.
With this video, Charli XCX and A.G. Cook double down on pop as concept, artifact, and aftermath. “Residue” doesn’t chase the next moment. It sits with what’s left behind, daring the audience to admit that sometimes, the echo is louder than the original sound.
