Houdini (Dua Lipa song)

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"Houdini"
A photo of Dua Lipa licking her reflection in a mirror.
Single by Dua Lipa
from the album Radical Optimism
Written November 2022 – January 2023[lower-alpha 1]
Released 9 November 2023 (2023-11-09)[2]
Genre
Length 3:05
Label Warner
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
Producer(s)
  • Danny L Harle
  • Kevin Parker
Script error: The function "ucfirst" does not exist. singles chronology
"Dance the Night"
(2023)		 "Houdini"
(2023)		 "Training Season"
(2024)
Audio sample
"Houdini"
Music video
"Houdini" on YouTube

"Houdini" is a song by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa. It was released on 9 November 2023 through Warner Records, as the lead single from Lipa's upcoming third studio album, Radical Optimism (2024). Houdini was produced by Danny L Harle and Kevin Parker. Lipa co-wrote the song with Harle, Parker, Caroline Ailin and Tobias Jesso Jr.

"Houdini" was met with generally positive reviews by music critics, who praised the sonic evolution from her previous album Future Nostalgia (2020). Commercially, the single peaked at number one in several countries including Belgium, Bulgaria, and Greece. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and the top 10 in various countries, including Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland and France. In the United States, the song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Dance/Electronic Songs chart for ten weeks. "Houdini" also peaked at number three on the Billboard Global 200.

Background and release

In 2023, Lipa announced that her upcoming third studio album would be released sometime in 2024. She shared that she had embraced 1970s-era psychedelia by working with Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, a change from the disco sound of Future Nostalgia (2020).[8][9] "Houdini" began as a demo produced by Parker sometime in or before November 2022. After hearing a snippet of the track, Lipa began writing the lyrics with Caroline Ailin before finalizing it with Parker in January 2023.[10] Ailin, Lipa, Parker, Danny L Harle, and Tobias Jesso Jr. all share writing credits on the song.[11]

In May 2023, Lipa released "Dance the Night" as the lead single from the soundtrack for Greta Gerwig's Barbie, in which she also made her acting debut. The song peaked at number one in the UK and reached the top 10 in the US, Australia, Germany, France, Canada, and various other countries. After having deleted all of her Instagram posts in October 2023, Lipa posted a picture of herself with red hair captioned "miss me?".[12] On October 27, she shared a close-up picture of a key between her teeth, accompanied by the phrase "catch me or I go".[13] In anticipation of the song, Lipa replaced the cover art of her previous albums with kaleidoscopic versions on streaming services.[14]

Lipa posted a teaser of the song on her social media on October 31, 2023, hinting at the song title in the post.[15] A rearranged combination of numbers would spell out the title "Houdini",[16] named after escape artist Harry Houdini.[17][18] Fans of Lipa also drew parallels to English singer Kate Bush's 1982 song of the same name, who also references Houdini by presenting a key in her mouth on the cover of her album The Dreaming (1982).[19] The following day, she announced that the song would be released on November 9, 2023 and made it available for pre-order and pre-save via her website and various streaming services.[20]

Live performances

Dua Lipa released a live recording of the song titled London Sessions for digital download and streaming on 12 January 2024. A music video of the live performance was released on YouTube the same day.[21]

She first performed the song on live television at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on 4 February 2024, along with "Dance the Night" and her then-upcoming single, "Training Season".[22]

Critical reception

"Houdini" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics. Helen Brown from The Independent gave the song five out of five stars, mentioning that although "there's some daftness in the lyrics, (...) pop is no place for pedantry —especially not when it comes to a singer whose lockdown hit, 'Levitating', saw her laughing in the face of gravity".[23] Rhian Daly from NME gave the song four out of five stars, writing that "while she might be switching up her sonic palette, there's one thing you can rely on Dua to be consistent with —giving us confidence-filled bops that help us unlock the best versions of ourselves, even if just for three minutes".[24]

Betsy Reed from The Guardian also gave the song four out of five stars, stating that "it's ferociously catchy without being bludgeoning, and does a more convincing job of combining her appreciation for vintage sonics with diamond-tooled pop songwriting than Future Nostalgia did. For Lipa, being a pop star clearly is still the main event, and 'Houdini' suggests no threat to her dominance".[25] Variety's Jem Aswad declared the song a "banger" and "both a progression from and a continuation of Future Nostalgia", describing it as "more melodically nuanced" than her prior album's singles.[26] Similarly, Kaelen Bell of Exclaim! shared that the song retained Dua Lipa's disco-pop sensibilities yet was "sweatier and grimier than the neon-lit enormity of 'Levitating' and 'Don't Start Now.'"[27]

Writing for Clash, Robin Murray said that the song is "Dua Lipa doing what she does best —a gleaming, sun-drenched pop star who yearns to dominate huge spaces."[28] Writing for Pitchfork, Shaad D'Souza mentioned that the song "doesn't reinvent the wheel: Lipa taunts a man into proving he deserves her attention, squarely in the brazen, invulnerable Future Nostalgia mode. But production from Kevin Parker and Danny L Harle provides some of the drive and loony spark that was missing from Lipa's club tracks thus far".[29]

Year-end lists

Select year-end rankings of "Houdini"
Publication List Rank Ref.
NME The 50 Best Songs of 2023
31
 [30]
Rolling Stone The 100 Best Songs of 2023
36
[5]
USA Today Best Songs of 2023 N/A
[31]

Music video

The music video for "Houdini" was directed by Manu Cossu and released alongside the song. It is set in a dance studio, where a redheaded Lipa performs a choreography with a group of redheaded male dancers.[32][33] According to Vogue, the video appears to be a reference to the video for "Hung Up" (2005) by Madonna.[4]

Track listing

Credits and personnel

These credits are adapted from YouTube.[11]

  • Dua Lipa – vocals, songwriting, lyrics, melodies
  • Kevin Parker – backing vocals, songwriting, production, arrangement, engineering, programming, bass guitar, drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion, sound effects
  • Danny L Harle – backing vocals, songwriting, production, arrangement, synthesizer, drum programming
  • Caroline Ailin – backing vocals, songwriting, vocal production, lyrics, melodies
  • Tobias Jesso Jr. – backing vocals, songwriting, melodies
  • Cameron Gower Pool – vocal production, engineering
  • Josh Gudwin – mixing
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Houdini"
Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[115] Platinum 70,000
Belgium (BEA)[116] Gold 15,000
Canada (Music Canada)[117] Platinum 10,000
France (SNEP)[118] Platinum 250,000
Italy (FIMI)[119] Gold 15,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[120] Gold 7,500
Poland (ZPAV)[121] Gold 10,000
Portugal (AFP)[122] Gold 10,000
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[123] Gold 20,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[124] Gold 15,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[125] Silver 200,000

xunspecified figures based on certification alone
double-daggersales/streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Houdini"
Region Date Format(s) Version Label Ref.
Various 9 November 2023
Original Warner
[4]
France 10 November 2023 Radio airplay
[126]
Italy
[127]
United Kingdom 13 November 2023
[34][35][128]
United States Hot adult contemporary radio
[129]
14 November 2023 Contemporary hit radio
[130]
Various 1 December 2023
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 Extended edit
[36]
22 December 2023 Adam Port mix
[38]
Europe 29 December 2023
[131][132][133][134]
United Kingdom
[40][135][136][137]
Various 12 January 2024
  • Digital download
  • streaming
 London sessions
[41]
19 January 2024 Danny L Harle slowride mix
[43]
United States 2 February 2024
  • 7-inch single
  • cassette
  • CD
[138][139][140]

Notes

  1. ↑ For Rolling Stone, Lipa said that she began working on "Houdini" after she heard a snippet of a track that Kevin Parker was making in November 2022. They polished and finalized the song in January 2023.[1]
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The instrumental version of "Houdini" was released on the 7-inch single only.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  45. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  46. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Dua Lipa – Houdini" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  47. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Dua Lipa – Houdini" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  48. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Dua Lipa – Houdini" (in French). Ultratop 50.
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  52. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=793 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Dua Lipa.
  53. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=1237 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Canada AC for Dua Lipa.
  54. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=1239 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Canada CHR/Top 40 for Dua Lipa.
  55. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=1242 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Canada Hot AC for Dua Lipa.
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  60. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20243 into search.
  61. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20249 into search.
  62. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini". Tracklisten.
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  64. ↑ "Dua Lipa: Houdini" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  65. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini" (in French). Les classement single.
  66. ↑ "Musicline.de – Dua Lipa Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  67. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  68. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Dance Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  69. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
  70. ↑ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége.
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  72. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini". Top Digital Download.
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  80. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 6, 2024" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  81. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dua Lipa – Houdini" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  82. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Dua Lipa – Houdini". Top 40 Singles.
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  92. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 202351+52 into search.
  93. ↑ "SNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 20246 into search.
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  96. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini" Canciones Top 50.
  97. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini". Singles Top 100.
  98. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Dua Lipa – Houdini". Swiss Singles Chart.
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  100. ↑ "Archive Chart: 20231117" UK Singles Chart.
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  102. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=379 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Dua Lipa.
  103. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=341 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Dua Lipa.
  104. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=343 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Dua Lipa.
  105. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=1234 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs for Dua Lipa.
  106. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=381 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Dua Lipa.
  107. ↑ Illegal name entered Dua Lipa/Dua+Lipa/chart?f=378 "Dua Lipa – Chart history" Billboard Rhythmic Songs for Dua Lipa.
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  119. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Dua Lipa in the field Filtra. Select 2024 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
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  123. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Select the "Chart", enter 2024 in the field "Year". Select '' in the field "Semana". Click on "Search Charts"
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  125. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Enter Houdini in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
  126. ↑ Citations regarding the radio airplay release of "Houdini" by Dua Lipa in France:
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
    • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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