Dua Lipa’s return couldn’t have been more triumphant. After weeks of giving her fans hints about the first single from her highly anticipated third album, the Albanian-born singer has finally released “Houdini”: three minutes of pure pop that will come as a slap in the face to those who haven’t Face seemed like she was able to renew her vows for Future Nostalgia, the album that established her as a global diva in the year she gave birth.
The song’s video clip, which has been viewed sixteen million times in less than 24 hours, shows the singer dancing a choreography with a group of dancers in front of a gym mirror, a clear homage to Madonna’s Hung Up. However, the most commented sensible similarities were those that share certain approaches of the audiovisual piece (produced by her friend, the Frenchman Romain Gavras and directed by the commercial artist Manu Cossu) with Chicken Teriyaki by Rosalía. On the one hand, the artist has dyed her hair in the cherry coke color that the Catalan singer chose for the launch of Motomami, making it the emblem of her own launch. On the other hand, some frames of the video clip are an absolute copy of the image created by Tanu Muino and Canada for Rosalía.
Lipa, who has become a fashion icon with the help of her stylist, the Italian Lorenzo Possoco, and confirmed that status this year by creating her own collection in collaboration with Versace, returns to her stylistic origins in this first installment of her new job back what was initially a classic in her wardrobe: jogging pants with a party top. The pants she chose for the occasion are a creation by Brit Martine Rose, who specializes in trendy men’s casual wear. The top, however, a mesh corset with flesh-colored trompe l’oeil fabric that gives the impression of nudity, is a design by Australian brand Dion Lee, known for its surreal mixes of sports elements and corsets. Finally, the artist dances on Puma sneakers.
Dua Lipa herself has stated that the song is a kind of hymn to being single and that the term Houdini refers to the freedom to appear and disappear when there is no commitment to anyone. “It’s about the idea of not knowing if someone is worth my time or if I’m going to disappear at some point. “You never know how a flirtation will end, and that’s the beauty of letting yourself go.”