Dua Lipa doesn’t have time for anything below her standards for a partner. The pop superstar unveiled her new single, “Training Season,” on Thursday (Feb. 15).
Lipa announced the single last month in a clip posted to her TikTok, declaring that she’s very tired of mediocre men. “I need someone to hold me close, deeper than I’ve ever known/ Whose love feels like a rodeo, knows just how to take control,” she sings over a pounding beat.
The singer also shared a statement, revealing that the song was inspired by a series of unimpressive dates. “The last one was the final straw,” she wrote. “The next morning I arrived to the studio to Caroline [Ailin] and Tobias [Jesso Jr.] asking me how it all went and I immediately declared ‘TRAINING SEASON IS OVER,’ and like the best ‘day after’ debriefs with your mates, we had a lot of laughs and it all quickly came together from there.”
She continued, “While it is obviously about that feeling when you are just absolutely done telling people … men specifically in this case, how to date you right; it is also about my training season being over and me growing with every experience,” she wrote. “I have never felt more confident, clear or empowered. And while it may be that training season is never over for any of us, you start to see the beauty in finding that person to experience it with.”
She went on to premiere the single at the 2024 Grammy Awards earlier this month.
Lipa’s last album was 2020’s Future Nostalgia, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The nostalgic pop and disco set was nominated for album of the year and won best pop vocal album at the 2021 Grammy Awards. Its lead single “Don’t Start Now” was nominated for record and song of the year as well as best pop solo performance.
Listen to “Training Season” below.