1. Don't pick up the phone
February 2, 2018 6:02 PM   Subscribe

On July 7, British pop singer Dua Lipa released a video for New Rules. In a recent Vice essay, author Emily Bootle argues the song distinguishes itself from other empowerment anthems: “From Christina Aguilera’s Stronger to Little Mix’s Shout Out To My Ex, there is a whole world of music that celebrates the failed relationship as a character-building experience, and interprets heartbreak with unbridled optimism... But New Rules is different: it’s a song about what we can provide for ourselves. It maintains a neutral perspective, finding empowerment not in optimism, but pragmatism.”

In an interview about the video, Lipa was clear about her intentions: “I had saved pictures on my phone to use as reference points for the video. There was an image I’d saved of Naomi Campbell in the ‘80s — I think it was a Versace campaign — where she is basically holding another girl on her back. I loved the idea of girls looking after each other like that, holding each other, that sense of humility, that sense of strength.”

Emily Bootle discusses the track and video on the Switched on Pop podcast.
posted by roger ackroyd (13 comments total) 34 users marked this as a favorite
 
I love this video. The sense that she's hanging out with her girlfriends, taking strength from them as she figures out how to finally shed a toxic relationship. And the dancers aren't just eye candy, they are an essential part of the story and video!
posted by sharp pointy objects at 10:38 PM on February 2, 2018 [9 favorites]


I had the same reaction as Ms. Bootle on first listen: that syncopated drop is killer.
posted by schoolgirl report at 4:37 AM on February 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


"If you're under him / you ain't getting over him" is just such a brilliant line.
posted by kariebookish at 5:01 AM on February 3, 2018 [6 favorites]


I loved the bit in the video where the protagonist (Dua) recovers/moves on and in turn helps someone else navigate the same messy path.
Also the song is mad catchy.
posted by Nieshka at 5:35 AM on February 3, 2018 [7 favorites]


I agree with this - the song and video both struck me in this way. One question with the video though - what it is with the flamingos??
posted by Toddles at 7:47 AM on February 3, 2018


On a related note, the video for IDGAF. Also very good on this topic. I need this.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:40 AM on February 3, 2018 [3 favorites]


Love this!
posted by travertina at 11:03 AM on February 3, 2018 [1 favorite]


I haven't been interested in any pop music in years, but watched the New Rules video after a podcast recommendation, and was hooked.

I really like the art direction for the New Rules video, and I like a lot of her other songs too, and how her dancer posse seems to be the same women from video to video.
posted by Squeak Attack at 11:08 AM on February 3, 2018


Awesome stuff. Also, thanks MeFi for getting me to listen to new music I wouldn't have looked twice at otherwise, by appealing to my upper brainstem instead of peer pressure!
posted by Samizdata at 12:47 PM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


"New Rules" was my favorite pop song of 2017 by a mile.

What with the (gestures toward politics), I've started listening to songs by women with an eye toward their attitudes about feminism: They vary wildly. For every time Selena Gomez satisfyingly answers rhetorical questions about who will care for he sloppy-drunk ex with a crisp "It Ain't Me" (the name of the song; the artist is Norwegian EDM figure Kygo) there is Miley Cyrus coming in with feminized helplessness so feigned it seems like parody in "Malibu" ("never went boating / don't get how they are floating" ... uh, ok). And none of that is as bad at the Hailee Stanfield/Alesso song "Let Me Go," in which the woman singer wishes she'd been hurt more than her ex and hopes that he finds someone new, essentially so she'll no longer be responsible for him (ew).

Anyway, in this landscape, "New Rules" stands out for its strong and pragmatic narrator. Also, it's just a bop.
posted by purpleclover at 1:29 PM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


If anyone's keeping score, Dua Lipa is tonight's musical guest on SNL. 2-3-18
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 2:27 PM on February 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


i would like this song at all if it wasn't goddamn everywhere i go. god i hate top 40 so much. ruins every song that i might actually like.
posted by numaner at 10:15 AM on February 4, 2018


I've been digging this song a couple months now - glad to hear it's not just me.
posted by maryr at 2:54 PM on February 5, 2018


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