Electricity (Silk City and Dua Lipa song)

"Electricity" was written by Mark Ronson and Diplo of Silk City, Dua Lipa, Diana Gordon, Romy Madley Croft of The xx, Jr Blender, Jarami members Jacob Olofsson and Rami Dawod, and Maxime and Clément Picard. The song was produced by Silk City with Picard Brothers, Jarami, Riton, Alex Metric, and Blender handling additional production. Gordon came up with the melody, which jump-started the song, while Blender came up with the catchy chorus, which was unable to work for an entire song. Gordon ended up recording the melody in a demo. English singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine wrote and recorded an entire song to the record, called "Baptize", which demo leaked in 2020, but it did not fit, so they decided to keep her electricity concept and re-write it. Croft helped with the re-writes, writing the entire lead, and filling in some parts. After the many contributions, Diplo and Ronson were unsure of who they wanted to sing on it. They ultimately sent a demo to Lipa in November 2017, who expressed her admiration of it. Lipa ended up re-writing some parts and lowering the key to fit with her voice. She co-wrote the middle eight with Ronson. Ronson handled her vocal production and tracked her. The writers spent a lot of time perfecting the lyrics. Diplo and Ronson had trouble with the production as they are not inherently house producers. They asked Metric and Riton for help as they are "very current" with house music in the United Kingdom. Diplo and Ronson knew they needed Metric and Riton in order to be authentic. Metric and Riton helped them with the drums and the arrangement. The Picard Brothers created the bassline using an old 909 machine. Ronson made the track sound vintage while Diplo incorporated disparate genres. Ronson tried the production several different ways, including having a band come into the studio and record it in a disco style. They ended up using this rendition as the song's outro. They accidentally played Gordon's demo in the lower key and decided to place it as an "answer" to Lipa's vocals. Gordon was not singing any lyrics in the demo so they had her re-record her vocals with the updated lyrics. They then slowed down her vocals. The song was recorded in March 2018 at Zelig West Studios in Los Angeles and Lazer Sound Studios in Beachwood Canyon, Los Angeles. Mixing was handled by Josh Gudwin at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles with Chris Gehringer mastering the song at Sterling Sound in New York City. == Music and lyrics ==

Musically, "Electricity" is a dance-pop and piano house song. Running for 3 minutes and 58 seconds, the song follows a structure of verse, bridge, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, middle eight, chorus, outro and is composed in time and the key of D minor, with a tempo of 118 beats per minute. It follows a chord progression of Dm–F–Dm–C, while the bridge adds additional Bmaj7 and Am7 chords. The song additionally draws from Chicago house and 1990s music, and incorporates elements of disco-house, diva house and electropop genres. "Electricity" uses a retro-pop production, that consists of house drums, a modern heavy-handed bassline, an electric groove, Latin melodies, plunging synths, high pitched disco synth strings, slithering guitars, and soulful house piano stabs. The song also features a 1960s soul outro. Lyrically, the song documents a relationship where the two people feel as though they've found a kindred spirit, with one also comforting the other who has been through a traumatic relationship in the past. It was also thought to be about self-love due to Lipa singing as though she is duetting with herself in the chorus. == Release and promotion ==

In July 2018, Ronson confirmed that Silk City had a collaboration with Dua Lipa coming, and he announced the title as "Electricity." Ronson and Lipa began teasing the song shortly thereafter. On 25August 2018, Lipa confirmed the song's release date and on 4September of that year, Ronson, Lipa, and Diplo formally announced the track. "Electricity" was released on 6September 2018 for digital download and streaming through Columbia Records and Sony Music. It was also included as the opening track of Silk City's 12-inch vinyl EP of the same name, released 13April 2019 as part of Record Store Day 2019. Several alternate versions of "Electricity" have been released. On 19October 2018, an acoustic version was released. On 2November of that year, a club remix by Ten Ven was released. A week later and on 16November, remixes by MK and Alex Metric were released. == Critical reception ==

In Rolling Stone, Daniela Tijerina viewed the song as a "riled up dancefloor smash" and praised it for being Lipa's best collaboration. Pryor Stroud of PopMatters praised the propulsive chorus and noted that it "[breaks] out of the track's four walls and [runs] free." The song placed at number 59 on the magazine's 2018 year-end list, while it placed at number 29 for The New York Times. Popjustice named it 2018's 11th best song and it placed at number 12 on the year-end list of Stereogum. The song was nominated for the 2019 Popjustice £20 Music Prize. For The Line of Best Fit, Cerys Kenneally commended the anthemic pop abilities, while MTV pointed out its house vibes, reminiscent of the 1990s. In his review for The Guardian, Kate Solomon viewed it as "a bop with a capital B" and a "90s piano-house dream." In his Crack Magazine review for Lipa's Future Nostalgia, Michael Cragg commended the track for going into the backbone of the album, expressing that it released something in her. The song received nominations for Best Pop/Electronic Song at the 2019 International Dance Music Awards and Global Hit of the Year at the 2019 MTV Millennial Awards. == Commercial performance ==

In the United Kingdom, "Electricity" debuted at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart issue dated 14September 2018. Three weeks later, it peaked at number 4 on the chart and spent a total of 20 weeks on the chart. Similarly, the song reached number 6 in Ireland and 8 in Scotland. It was awarded a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling 1,000,000 track-equivalent units in the country. It additionally reached the summit of the Dance Club Songs chart and number five on the Dance/Electronic Songs chart. In Canada, the song was certified gold by Music Canada and reached number 61 on the Canadian Singles Chart. In Australia, the song was awarded a platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for selling 70,000 track-equivalent units. It reached number 22 on the country's singles chart and number 6 on their dance music chart. The song also peaked at number 25 in New Zealand. == Music video ==

Background and release The music video for "Electricity" accompanied the single's release. It was directed by Bradley & Pablo and filmed at ODR Studios in Newark, New Jersey. Lipa called it a "turning point," stating that it was the first video where she did not care about what people thought and she just wanted to dance, perform, and enjoy herself. She went on to say it helped with her confidence and she was very proud of it. The song was also accompanied by a vertical video and dance video. The vertical video was released on 21September 2018 and features Lipa wearing a leather bikini and dancing in a warehouse. The 1990s-inspired dance video released on 15November 2018 and was directed and produced by Lindsey Mann. It features dancers in baggy clothes, going through the underground. Synopsis , Dua Lipa dances in a loft during the Northeast blackout of 2003, while Diplo and Mark Ronson get stuck in an elevator. The visual is set during the Northeast blackout of 2003, opening with home-video style footage from the time, starting with sirens going off in the street, before a man mentions the blackout, and is cut off by a reporter talking about how the luminous skyscrapers are now shadows. It then pans to Lipa listening to the radio in a dark New York City loft. She is noticeably sweaty, wearing red high-waisted bottoms, a white t-shirt tied around her chest, showing her abs, and layered necklaces, with blonde hair. Lipa then takes a sip from a jug of water and leans back in a chair, before she begins to sing and dance, with choreography inspired by Flashdance (1983). In his review for MTV, Patrick Hoksen complimented Lipa's newly blonde hair and thought that she "steals the video." Sarah Brown of Soundigest viewed the "Electricity" video as a "burst of energy" and "trilling," as well as praising Ronson and Diplo's "comedic" cameo appearance. == Live performances ==

After its release, "Electricity" was added to the setlists of the remaining shows for Lipa's Self-Titled Tour. From 2018 to 2020, the song was a part of her setlists for the iHeartRadio Music Festival 2018, Jingle Ball 2018, ''Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2019, the amfAR Gala 2019, the Amazon Prime Day concert 2019, the OnePlus Music Festival 2019, and the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2020. Lipa performed the song at the American Music Awards of 2018, as a medley with "One Kiss" (2018) on 9October 2018. The stage was designed as a dimly lit urban loft studio, where Lipa performed with a dance team. Two days later, she performed it on Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', backed by a bassist, a keyboardist, a drummer and two backup singers. She wore a sparkly silver dress, and danced bare foot. Lipa also included the song on the setlist of her 2022 Future Nostalgia Tour. Silk City performed "Electricity" for the first and only time together on 13October 2018 at the Treasure Island Music Festival. Mark Ronson performed solo versions of the song in 2019 at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and Capital FM's Summertime Ball, while Diplo performed it at the Electric Daisy Carnival of that year in Las Vegas. == Track listings ==

• Digital download and streaming • "Electricity" (featuring Diplo and Mark Ronson) – 3:58 • Digital download and streaming – acoustic version • "Electricity" (featuring Dua Lipa) [acoustic] – 4:13 • Digital download and streaming – The Black Madonna remix • "Electricity" (featuring Dua Lipa) The Black Madonna remix] – 4:58 • Digital download and streaming – Ten Ven remix • "Electricity" (featuring Dua Lipa) [Ten Ven remix] – 4:22 • Digital download and streaming – MK remix • "Electricity" (featuring Diplo, Dua Lipa and Mark Ronson) MK remix] – 5:46 • Digital download and streaming – Alex Metric remix • "Electricity" (featuring Dua Lipa) [Alex Metric remix] – 6:20 == Personnel ==

• Silk City production • Thomas Wesley Pentz instrumentation, programming • Mark Ronson instrumentation, programming • Dua Lipa vocals • The Picard Brothers additional production • Maxime Picard instrumentation, programming • Clément Picard instrumentation, programming • Jarami additional production • Jacob Olofsson instrumentation, programming • Rami Dawod programming • Riton additional production • Alex Metric additional production • Jr Blender additional production, instrumentation, programming • Josh Gudwin mixing • Hunter Jackson mixing assistance • Chris Gehringer mastering • Will Quinnell mastering assistance == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Certifications ==