The song is called "Burial," but the electronic producer Burial isn't anywhere near it. Instead, Anne Hathaway's first single for A24's upcoming film Mother Mary was co-written with Charli XCX, Jack Antonoff, and George Daniel — a trio that reads less like a random assemblage of available talent and more like a carefully curated signal about what A24 thinks its music brand should sound like. The title nod to Burial feels almost cheeky, a wink to the kind of listener who would notice the reference and appreciate the misdirection. That's the move here: A24 isn't just making a soundtrack. It's building a sonic universe with the same taste-making precision that turned it into the most recognizable independent film brand in a generation.
A24 has always understood that its brand is its product. The studio didn't become synonymous with a certain kind of elevated indie film by accident — it built that association through relentless curation, strategic festival positioning, and an aesthetic consistency that made its logo a signal of quality before audiences even saw a trailer. Now it's applying that same strategy to music. Mother Mary isn't the first A24 project to take music seriously — the studio has released soundtracks and original music before — but the Hathaway single feels like a more deliberate announcement. This is A24 saying it has a point of view about what its music should sound like, and that point of view involves Charli XCX.
Charli's involvement is the tell. She's not just a pop star — she's a taste signifier, someone whose collaborations and co-signs carry cultural weight in a way that transcends chart performance. Her presence on a track signals that the project is plugged into a specific strain of pop culture: experimental but accessible, forward-thinking but not alienating, cool in a way that feels organic rather than manufactured. Jack Antonoff brings a different kind of credibility — he's the producer who can make anything sound like a hit without sanding off its edges, the guy who's worked with Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey and somehow made both sound more like themselves. George Daniel, as one half of The 1975, adds another layer of indie-pop legitimacy. Together, they're not just writing a song for a movie. They're defining what an A24 song sounds like.
This is the same playbook A24 used to build its film brand. The studio didn't just acquire good movies — it acquired movies that felt like they belonged in conversation with each other, that shared a certain sensibility even when their genres and subjects diverged wildly. Moonlight and The Witch and Lady Bird don't have much in common on the surface, but they all carry the same A24 stamp: thoughtful, artful, emotionally resonant, made with a clear point of view. Now the studio is doing the same thing with music, assembling collaborators who bring both credibility and coherence. It's not about chasing trends or stacking the biggest names available. It's about building an identity that audiences can recognize and trust.
The choice to have Hathaway sing is itself a statement. She's not a musician by trade, but she's a performer with range and a career built on taking risks that could easily have embarrassed her. Putting her voice on a track with Charli XCX and Antonoff signals that A24 is interested in blurring the lines between its film talent and its musical output, treating actors as multidimensional artists rather than keeping them siloed in their lanes. It's the kind of move that could backfire if the song isn't good, but A24 clearly believes the pedigree of the collaborators is insurance enough. And they're probably right.
What makes this strategy effective is that it's not just about music for music's sake. A24 knows that soundtracks and original music are distribution tools. A good song can reach audiences who would never see the film, extending the brand's reach into spaces where trailers and posters can't go. Charli XCX's fanbase isn't necessarily the same as A24's core audience, but there's enough overlap — and enough mutual respect — that the collaboration feels like a natural expansion rather than a cynical grab for attention. The song becomes a way to signal what the film is about without saying it directly. If Mother Mary sounds like this, it's probably not a straightforward drama. It's probably strange, ambitious, emotionally complex. The music does the curatorial work before the film even arrives.
This approach mirrors what other studios have tried but rarely executed with the same consistency. Soundtracks used to be major cultural events — think Pulp Fiction, think The Bodyguard — but most studios stopped treating them as anything more than promotional add-ons. A24 is betting that audiences still care about the music that surrounds a film, that a well-chosen song or a well-assembled soundtrack can become part of the film's legacy rather than just a marketing footnote. The studio is building a catalog that feels intentional, where each release reinforces the brand rather than diluting it.
The real test will be whether A24 can maintain this level of curation as it scales. The studio has grown significantly in the past few years, and growth usually means compromise. But if the Hathaway single is any indication, A24 understands that its brand is fragile and valuable, and that every release — musical or cinematic — either strengthens or weakens the associations audiences have built. The song might not feature Burial, but it carries the same kind of cultural cache: knowing, referential, appealing to an audience that wants to feel like they're in on something. That's the A24 strategy in microcosm. Build the brand so carefully that even a single becomes a statement.
For more, see the best art house cinemas in Los Angeles and how the streaming wars work in 2026.
