Dua Lipa Channels ABBA on Pulsating New Song ‘Training Season’: Single Review
variety.comJem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Few artists have ever fused pop and dance music as fluidly as ABBA, and their influence is writ subtly but large on Dua Lipa’s new single “Training Season” — previewed during her performance at the Grammy Awards earlier this month — the second from her still untitled forthcoming third album.
Driving but not as in-your-face as its predecessor “Houdini,” the song struts along on a powerful disco beat, with a melody that swerves into almost Middle-Eastern scales, reminiscent of ABBA’s biggest disco hit, 1978’s “Voulez-Vous.” While the influence there is subtle, it’s unmistakable, and is driven home later in the song with piano flourishes that recalls ABBA keyboardist Benny Andersson’s on many of the group’s hits, most famously “Dancing Queen.” It’s the best kind of tribute: nothing overt, but a sly, fun wink for fans who notice it.
Her collaborators on the song are the same as “Houdini”: Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker and Caroline Polachek/ Charli XCX collaborator Danny L.
Harle (who produced) along with cowriters Tobias Jesso Jr. (Adele, Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus) and Caroline Ailin (who’s cowritten several Lipa hits).
Read more on variety.com