Dua Lipa’s Barbie Is Ready to Party on Soundtrack Single ‘Dance the Night’
Dua Lipa’s Barbie is the life of the party — and she’s the sound of it, too. The singer, who plays Mermaid Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has shared the luscious disco single “Dance the Night” as the first official release from Barbie the Album, out July 21. While Barbie herself is navigating an existential crisis on the dance floor, her dream land’s resident pop girl is shining under the lights with diamonds under her eyes.
“Watch me, dance/Dance the night away/My heart could be burning but you won’t see it on my face,” Lipa sings with the confidence of a luring siren. “Watch me, dance/Dance the night away/I’ll still keep the party running not one hair out of place.”
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“Dance the Night” sets the tone for Barbie, which shattered its own glossy image earlier today in an official trailer showing that life in paradise isn’t as dreamy as it seems. Lipa’s performance is as much glitter and glam as it is escapism and unease. She thinks of her tears as diamonds, instead of an emotional response to anything threatening her perfect life. Instead of confronting failed romances and her burning heart, she puts on the hottest dress in her closet and dances it off.
While every version of Barbie is everything, most Kens are next to nothing — but Mark Ronson, who executive produced Barbie the Album, is set on standing out. “This Ken helped make a whole soundtrack,” the musician wrote on Twitter. Ronson produced “Dance the Night” alongside Picard Brothers and Andrew Wyatt, who co-wrote the song with Lipa and Caroline Ailin.
Ronson, as one half of the electronic duo Silk City, previously struck Grammy-winning gold with Lipa on their 2018 single “Electricity.” But most of the other appearances on Barbie the Album mark first-time collaborations. Before Barbie, he’s never really had a reason to get in the studio with Ryan Gosling, for example.
The rest of the record features songs from Ava Max, Charli XCX, Dominic Fike, Fifty Fifty, Gayle, Haim, Ice Spice, Kali, Karol G, Khalid, Lizzo, Nicki Minaj, PinkPantheress, Tame Impala, and the Kid Laroi, with more to be announced in the lead up to the film.
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