WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

We’re expecting this new single to go straight to number 1 in the UK on Friday (24 February) because it’s electronic dance music that no one is doing better right now.

• Read on for reasons including why this should be Lipa’s 5th UK number 1

Think of the hyped-up energy of last single Houdini (watch far below), add the freneticism of Metronomy‘s insistent throb of Love Letters and mash it up with a sports-themed lyric starring a lover who could do better and you might come close to Training Season.

Lipa’s looking for someone ‘whose love feels like a rodeo’ and sets a sporting challenge with: ‘Can you compete? Now is your time. Run when you hear that whistle blow. Are you on my team or stuck on the sidelines waiting for someone to tell you to go?’

She’s building on the dancefloor joy of her previous single but slowly veering the ship in a more indie direction which we’re enjoying and bodes well for a more experimental 3rd album after the lockdown bop that was Future Nostalgia, an album of the month for us back in the dark Covid days of April 2020.

We said of it: ‘There really isn’t a duff track here and if the lyrics are a little disposable (we’re particularly enjoying: ‘My love is like a rocket, watch it blast off, And I’m feeling so electric, dance my ass off (Levitating)) they are carried off with an unmistakeable flair.’

We last saw her live at The 02 in London in May 2022 and said: ‘What next? Future Nostalgia was a real step on from her debut and the superstar collaborations have only buffed Lipa’s star brighter. As she rides high above the crowd in a crane that makes good on her Levitating promise and the arena is showered in glitter, we’d like Lipa’s songwriting to progress to the point where we get a better feel of what makes her as an artist tick.’

Both Houdini and Training Season show Dua Lipa’s back in the game and ready to prove she can get into a whole new groove with her next long-player.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Dua Lipa
• Have you seen Dua Lipa onstage before and what did you think? Tickets
• Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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