Dua Lipa fans have predicted that the singer has created a late contender for “song of the year” with her new single – despite only hearing a five-second snippet.
It’s been three-and-a-half years since the British-Albanian singer released her hit sophomore album Future Nostalgia.
Released in the first weeks of lockdown in March 2020, the 80s-inspired soundtracked kitchen discos across the world, and was widely considered to be one of the best albums of 2020, placing in 2nd position on The Independent’s year-end list.
With the album spawning multiple singles and a subsequent tour, Lipa remained in Future Nostalgia mode for the following year. “Levitating”, taken from the record, reached its peak position of No 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 14 months after it was released, and is the longest-charting song by a female artist on the US chart.
As a result, new releases have been sporadic. While she’s topped the UK chart with Elton John remix “Cold Heart” and “Dance the Night” from the Barbie soundtrack, Lipa’s focus has largely been on her other ventures, such as her newsletter Service 95 and corresponding podcast At Your Service, and her clothing collection with Versace.
But last month, Lipa wiped her Instagram of her previous posts, spelling the beginning of a new era and new music. A picture showing Lipa with red hair was posted with the caption: “Miss me?” and later deleted, and on Wednesday (1 November) she shared the single artwork for her new song “Houdini”, which is released on Thursday (9 November).
Fans were ecstatic, with the promotion for the song dropping hints about Lipa’s new sound. One short snippet posted showcased shimmering production, Lipa’s words reverberating as she sings: “Do you think about it night and day? Maybe you could be the one to make me stay.”
For that sound, fans can partly credit Tame Impala AKA Kevin Parker, who Lipa revealed in a second post she had worked on on the track. Parker is a producer and composer on “Houdini”, and provided backing vocals and plays bass guitar.
Another photo showed Lipa with producer Danny L Harle, who worked with Caroline Polachek on her 2019 album Pang and this year’s critically acclaimed follow-up Desire, I Want to Turn Into You.
From the short snippet alone, fans declared “Houdini” a late entry for “song of the year” – or even decade.
“Am I hearing song of the decade because I fear I might be,” one top comment read, while another social media user echoed: “This really is gonna be song of the year huh.”
“You and Tame Impala omg this is so gonna be a hit,” one fan wrote. Another commenter agreed, writing: “Literally the dream team, can’t wait to see what you cooked.”
One comment read: “Tame Impala and Danny L Harle… she hit the slay button.”
“KEVIN PARKER AND DANNY L HARLE GIRLLLLLL YOU COULDN’T HAVE PICKED BETTER PRODUCERS IF YOU TRIEDDDDD,” another fan wrote.
“Kicking, screaming, crying, punching the AIR RIGHT NOW,” another fan wrote.
A rare few listeners have been lucky enough to hear the track ahead of its release. On Tuesday (7 November), BBC journalist Mark Savage shared a photo to Twitter/X of Lipa recording outside the BBC building, where she was shown playing the song to a man through headphones.
Next to the group, two people held a handpainted sign reading: “Congratulations, you are the first person to hear Dua Lipa’s brand new song.”
