Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ to return to Top 40 chart after ‘Saltburn’ scene
Sophie Ellis-Bextor‘s pop classic ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ is set to re-enter the UK Top 40 singles chart this week as its Saltburn-inspired renaissance continues.
To close Emerald Fennell’s new film, Barry Keoghan’s character Oliver Quick dances through a country mansion in the nude to a soundtrack of the 2001 pop hit.
Since then, it’s gained legions of new Gen Z fans on TikTok, with over 38.5million views of its hashtag and the song being included in a quarter of a million videos. Ellis-Bextor herself also joined the trend, recreating Keoghan’s dance in a TikTok video which you can see below.
After this success, Official Charts are reporting that the track is now set to re-enter the Top 40 this week. It currently sits at Number 27 in the midweek chart, and is expected to rise further across the week.
@sophieebtiktok Heading into 2024 like… Happy Saltburn New Year! Xx #murderonthedancefloor #sophieellisbextor #saltburnmovie
After the release of Saltburn, Ellis-Bextor hailed the resurgence of her hit single, writing on X/Twitter: “Wow.. thank you for all the Murder love. Happy new year! Xx.”
Speaking previously about the scene itself, the singer said she “wasn’t quite prepared for the visual”. “I didn’t really know exactly how it would play in terms of the role it was in the movie until I saw it at the screening, but I absolutely loved it,” she said. “I think it’s such a clever, funny, smart film. I really enjoyed it.”
The singer added that she was happy for director Emerald Fennell to use her song, because they “didn’t really have a plan B” for the film.
“She just felt like it tied everything together in terms of the tone of the film and the juxtaposition of the sort of sweetness of the pop song, but also a little sting in the tail with the lyrics as well,” she said. “I think it works. But how lovely for me, I mean, look, I’ve been singing ‘Murder’ for over 20 years and it’s so nice that it still has the power to surprise me.”
The film, set in 2006, is full of hit noughties tracks like Girls Aloud‘s ‘Sound Of The Underground’, Bloc Party‘s ‘This Modern Love’ and The Killers‘ ‘Mr Brightside’.
In a four-star review of Saltburn, NME described the film as an “intoxicating new satire”, adding: “Saltburn isn’t the most talked-about party of the year, but you shouldn’t miss it all the same.”
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Will Richards
NME
