Dua Lipa's return couldn't have been more triumphant. After weeks of offering her fans clues about the first single from her long-awaited third album, the Albanian-born singer has finally released 'Houdini': three minutes of pure pop that have worked as a slap in the face of those who did not believe that she would be able to renew the vows of Future Nostalgia, The album that established her as a global diva in the year of confinement.
The music video for the song, which has garnered sixteen million views in less than 24 hours, shows the singer dancing a choreography with a group of dancers in front of a gym mirror, in a clear tribute to Madonna's Hung Up. However, the most talked about reasonable similarities have been those that certain approaches of the audiovisual piece (produced by her boyfriend, the Frenchman Romain Gavras and directed by the advertising creative Manu Cossu) have with Chicken Teriyaki, by Rosalía. On the one hand, the artist has dyed her hair cherry coke that the Catalan singer chose for the release of Motomami and has turned it into an emblem of her own release. On the other hand, some frames of the video clip are an absolute carbon copy of the one created by Tanu Muino and Canada for Rosalía.
Rosalía, the inspiration that you are pic.twitter.com/MYW7AvxOzE
— marina (@marinadpp) November 10, 2023
Lipa, who has become a fashion icon with the help of her stylist, the Italian Lorenzo Possoco and who has confirmed this status this year by creating her own collection in collaboration with Versace, returns to her stylistic origins in this first installment of her new work and recovers what was a classic of her wardrobe in its beginnings: The sweatpants with a party top. The trousers she has chosen on this occasion are a creation by the British Martine Rose, who specialises in trendy men's leisurewear. Meanwhile, the top, a fishnet corset with trompe l'oeil in flesh-colored fabric that gives the feeling of nudity, is a design by Australian firm Dion Lee, known for its surreal mixes of sporty elements and corsetry. Finally, the artist dances on a pair of Puma sneakers.
Dua Lipa herself has explained that the song is a kind of hymn to singleness and that the term Houdini refers to the freedom to appear and disappear when there is no commitment to anyone. "It explores the idea of not knowing if someone deserves my time or I'll disappear in the end. You never know how a flirtation is going to end and that's the beauty of letting go."