As Dua Lipa continues to keep the singles coming from her sophomore juggernaut, Future Nostalgia, she managed to find time in between prepping for her consummate performance at the BRIT Awards to film the video for what is now the sixth official release from the record, “Love Again.” Directed by Nabil Elderkin (whose forthcoming debut film, Gully, also features a non-Future Nostalgia song from Lipa called “Can They Hear Us”), the simple concept notably takes cues from Madonna’s iconic cowboy-themed video helmed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, “Don’t Tell Me.”
In Lipa’s case, however, she trades out the more wistful, desert-laden homage to the Old West in favor of intermixing the cowboy trope with tinges of magical realism, circus aesthetics (via clown face-painting) and a dash of Cruella-inspired fashion (Cru would just adore the array of “hides” being paraded). But, naturally, it’s difficult not to still think of M famously riding that mechanical bull out in the barren, sandy landscape filled with occasional Hollywood-supplied backdrops we’re meant to see for meta effect. And it only makes sense that Lipa should continue paying her tribute to the Dancing Queen, for Future Nostalgia is a major nod to Confessions on a Dance Floor—complete with Stuart Price as producer.
Briefly following the journey of a floating cowboy hat to its owner (Lipa, of course) in the main hall of the building, it plops down atop Lipa’s head as she sits on a mechanical bull. She gives us a knowing glance in her zebra-print bra (just one of numerous animal prints to come) before singing the lines, “I never thought I would find a way out.” The sentiment of that lyric befits someone writhing and squirming around on a bull, eventually reclaiming ownership of their own movements as they learn to outmaneuver the “wild thing” they’re riding. For metaphor’s sake, love is that wild thing.
Sampling from White Town’s 1997 hit, “Your Woman” (which of course Lipa knows all too well because she’s British), the interpolated instrumentals lend a bittersweet tone to Lipa’s expression of liberation (through newfound l’amour) from a former, toxic love as she sings, “Never have I ever met somebody like you/Used to be afraid of love and what it might do/But goddamn, you got me in love again.”
Intercut scenes of Lipa in LED light-up cowboy attire lends the “ghetto fab” (read: gay) flair that Madonna offered with perhaps more panache in the video for “Music.” But, for the most part, Lipa keeps it decidedly butch/Lana Del Rey-esque for her portrayal of cowboy culture. At a certain point, however, she seems to think “cowboy” alone as a motif isn’t enough, subsequently taking a cue from M’s Girlie Show/Tears of a Clown steez by incorporating clown makeup into the narrative. Which is why she needs to crack some eggs into a bowl to create homemade face paint (and also, apparently, to give to someone else to make an omelet later). This, naturally, leads into a scene of a giant egg being lassoed by her fellow cowboys because, again: magical realism.
Choreography (though not by Jamie King) that also appears noticeably akin to the same style of group dancing Madonna performed in “Don’t Tell Me” adds further bombast to the largely “bare bones” video, which additionally relies on sartorial flair (just as Madonna did in her DSquared attire) as much as the visual effects to keep us interested.
Through all the surreal moments, one thing becomes clear: like the hat that find its way to her at the beginning of the video, so, too will this great love of Lipa’s eventually track her down… no matter how initially heartbroken.
