For her next trick, Dua Lipa will make a bop appear out of nowhere. This also applies to her latest single “Houdini,” a surefire hit that prides itself on being single and non-committal. “I’m not here long / Catch myself or I’m leaving – Houdini,” she sings in the chorus, referring to the famous magician.
“This track represents the easiest and most liberating parts of my single life,” Lipa said in a press release. (The pop star is currently dating French director Romain Gavras.) “’Houdini’ is very ironic and explores the question of whether someone is really worth the trouble or whether I’ll end up ghosting them. You never know where something will take you, that’s the beauty of being open to whatever life offers you. I look forward to sharing this feeling of defiant bliss with my fans.”
This is the first taste of Lipa’s highly anticipated new era of music post-2020s Future nostalgia, her uncompromising album full of pop gems that got us dancing in the middle of the COVID lockdown. (It’s almost remarkable that tracks like “Cool” or “Pretty Please” have come this far without becoming singles or getting played on the radio, but I digress.) “Houdini” still has some of that sparkle Dancefloor appeal (which shaped her). Barbie track “Dance the Night” from this summer), but it leans more towards 80s synths than 70s disco influences.
Lipa had previously hinted that she would explore psychedelic sounds on the next album, particularly with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker at the helm as producer. Other key contributors to this song and the project as a whole include Caroline Ailin, Danny L. Harle and Tobias Jesso Jr. “A lot of this album was written in these joyful moments of absolute chaos and the way I was moving through the world. written with lightness and optimism, whatever the outcome,” she added.
The singer also released a music video for the track, directed by Manu Cossu with cinematographer André Chemetoff. Lipa dances in front of a mirror and whips her luscious, freshly dyed red hair in a rehearsal room. She’s come such a long way from that hip-spinning meme.
Check out the images and read the full text of “Houdini” below, courtesy of Genius.
(Choir)
I come and I go
Tell me how much you need me
I won’t be here much longer
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini
I come and I go
Prove that you have the right to please me
Everyone knows
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini(Verse 1)
Time passes like a solar eclipse
We watch each other and you blow me a kiss
It’s your moment, baby, don’t miss it
Come closer, do you read my lips?(Choir)
They say I come and I go
Tell me how much you need me
I won’t be here much longer
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini
I come and I go
Prove that you have the right to please me
Everyone knows
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini(Post Chorus)
If you’re good enough, you’ll find a way
Maybe you could get a girl to change her behavior
Do you think about it day and night?
Maybe you could be the one to make me stay(Verse 2)
Everything you say sounds so sweet (Ah-ah)
But do you practice everything you preach? (Ah ah)
I need something that makes me believe (Ah-ah)
If you got it, baby, give it to me(Choir)
They say I come and I go
Tell me how much you need me
I won’t be here much longer
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini
I come and I go (I come and I go)
Prove that you have the right to please me
Everyone knows (I haven’t been here long)
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini(Post Chorus)
If you’re good enough, you’ll find a way
Maybe you could get a girl to change her behavior
Do you think about it day and night?
Maybe you could be the one to make me stay
(Bridge)
Oh oh
Oh(Choir)
I come and I go
Tell me how much you need me (Ooh)
I won’t be here much longer
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini
I come and I go (I come and I go)
Prove that you have the right to please me
Everyone knows (I haven’t been here long)
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini(Outro)
Houdini
Catch me or I’ll go Houdini
Erica Gonzales is Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of television, films, music, books and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There’s a 75 percent chance she’s listening to Lorde right now.