Dua Lipa is currently navigating the tricky terrain of keeping her crown as queen of nu-disco after the nostalgic hit machine that was Future Nostalgia. ‘Houdini’, the lead single from her new album showed us the magic is still there and the pulsing disco beats are back on her new single ‘Training Season’.
The opening bars feel more Disco-Arabesquo than Lipa’s London as a Middle Eastern melody permeates the heavy disco beats throughout the new track. There are some tinges of similarity to the sound on Kylie’s ‘Padam-Padam’, but this is a much richer sound with more complex changes and hooks. While a slower beat than ‘Houdini’, the song retains some of the characteristics of a slight shift from the nostalgic disco sound of Lipa’s previous album.
Read More: Track Review: ‘Houdini’
The song was inspired by having had a series of bad dates with Lipa deciding that enough was enough and ‘Training Season is over’. While referencing that experience, the singer said she wanted to channel the feeling of confidence and empowerment, adding: “You stop looking for the trainees and become more interested in having someone … to grow with”. As the lyrics go, “Are you someone I can give my heart to? Or just the poison that I’m drawn to?”
Just like on ‘Houdini’, Lipa once again joins up with Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Danny L. Harle, who regularly works with Charli XCX. Once again, the blend of musical styles creates an absolute banger of a disco-pop track that sounds like an instant classic.
The verse pumps along with a standard disco beat that has more than a passing resemblance to ‘Cake by the Ocean’ by DNCE but the musical changes make the song stand out. On a pre-chorus echoing with some ABBA-esque synth beats, it feels like we are treading water before a falsetto delivery takes us back into another beat change for the chorus. Here, Lipa punches out her demands in a staccato fashion as you almost feel the dancefloor reverberate to dozens of stomping feet. A final switch into the post-chorus lifts the entire song and highlights why Dua Lipa is holding on to her crown.
Over an ethereal backing choir that sounds like prime Kylie, Lipa makes her final demands “Are you somebody who can go there? / ‘Cause I don’t wanna have to show ya”. Announcing, “Training season is over,” the rhythm cleverly counts the pitch back down into verse two.
The track feels like a rallying cry against terrible dates—a signal for anyone fuelled by testosterone and lacking a sense of humour to exit the dancefloor!
Dua Lipa is firmly announcing that training season is over. Now, we await the upcoming album from the disco queen.
Words by Andrew Butcher
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