It’s the dance floor-ready disco anthem that soundtracked the 2000s after its release in 2001. Now, 23 years later, 'Murder on the Dancefloor' has for the first time hurtled its way to the top of streaming charts thanks to an endorsement in love-it-or-loathe-it film of the moment, Saltburn.
After Emerald Fennell’s sophomoric film premiered on Amazon Prime on December 22, Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s saccharine-sweet song re-entered the UK Top 40 at number eight thanks to a scene in the film, which sees a murderous (pun intended) Oxford University outcast Oliver Quick, played by Barry Keoghan, dance naked to the song after, well, we don't want to give anything away.
The song's ascent is, in part, thanks to the reaction of Gen Z and TikTokers alike to the film — the song has been used across a bevy of Saltburn-themed videos, which have accumulated 4 billion views on the app. In fact, New Years’ Eve 2023 was the track's best-ever day on the service with 1.5 million streams in a single day, while in the first week of January, Google noted that the song was the US’ top trending track on The Hot 100, marking its first time on the list.
Among the TikTok videos that have employed the use of the song are Paris Hilton’s clip of her unveiling her secret pregnancy, while the #MurderOnTheDancefloor has been viewed more than 120 million times on the app. Twenty years after its release, the song is having the moment it didn't have the first time around.
Speaking to Forbes of her song’s success, Ellis-Bextor said: ’It’s really exciting and there was a bit over Christmas where I was seeing the numbers picking up and I said to my manager like, “This is all amazing but what does it really mean?” But I think now, I feel like it’s kind of starting to turn into something where it might mean I go places I haven’t been for a while, or maybe new people are introduced to what I am up to. Mainly, I think it’s just a really good example of what I’ve always loved about what I do, which is that you have to be open to the unexpected.’
The song, which began life as a demo by the New Radicals songwriter Gregg Alexander, is the latest in a long line of songs that have enjoyed belated success owing to the endorsement of films and TV series. After being repeatedly featured in Stranger Things season four in 2022, Kate Bush’s 1985 hit 'Running Up That Hill' reached number one once again. In 2020, Fleetwood Mac’s 'Dreams' returned to the charts more than 40 years after it first debuted in them after it soundtracked a viral skateboarding TikTok.
In many ways, 'Murder on the Dancefloor' finding a new — and, indeed, younger fanbase — is indicative of the times we’re living in. Saltburn is set in 2007, the halcyon years before we watched our lives through screens, before we created avatars of ourselves through which we moved through the world. The film, which has divided opinion since its release into cinemas in November, is intended to be an exploration of power dynamics with society. It interrogates the idea of power: who has it, and why? How do people who don’t have it acquire it? In these socially, economically and environmentally anxious and perilous times, in which many are still grappling with the very themes of the film, the ease of escaping to the bygone era that Ellis-Bextor’s music defined is sweet relief.
Ellis-Bextor, who gave Fennell permission to use the song in Saltburn, didn’t expect it to re-enter the charts. Speaking to BBC Newsbeat, she said: ‘One of the things I never prepared for is the fact that when you release anything into the world, any new music, it goes off and has its own journey. And you're along for the ride a bit, it also goes places you're not expecting to go. So what's happened with the song and how it's got new people who weren't even alive the first time it came out listening to it, it's just spectacular.’
Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
