Synopsis
Charli XCX and Brooke Candy move through a hazy, emotionally charged collage built around heartbreak and toxic romance. Grainy black-and-white footage presents the pair as if captured by a surveillance camera, while snippets from films, television, animation, and celebrity culture flash across the screen. Tears, dramatic close-ups, street scenes, and surreal pop references give the video a deliberately chaotic, Internet-era feel. The contrast between Charli's vulnerable singing and Brooke's confrontational rap creates a portrait of romantic damage filtered through Tumblr aesthetics and tabloid imagery.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video premiered on November 28, 2012, alongside the release campaign for Charli XCX's *Super Ultra* mixtape.
- Charli XCX described "Cloud Aura" as her first proper collaboration and said she specifically invited Brooke Candy because she could hear Candy's voice fitting the track.
- The visual collage draws on clips from *Carrie*, *The Hills*, *Pokemon*, *The Terminator*, and reality-TV footage, including appearances by figures such as Lauren Conrad, Zooey Deschanel, Britney Spears, and Honey Boo Boo.
- The song was produced by J£zus Million and later appeared on Charli XCX's 2013 debut album, *True Romance*.
- Charli XCX characterized the video's creative world as a collision of the Internet, Los Angeles, and London, a concise description of its mixture of lo-fi editing, celebrity references, and alternative pop styling.
- The video's rough, processed look and emotional Tumblr-inspired imagery helped establish the early visual language associated with Charli XCX's pre-breakthrough mixtape era.