Calvin Harris – “One Kiss” (Feat. Dua Lipa)
Calvin Harris and Dua Lipa are two people who know how to work the pop-music machine. Harris has been the world’s highest-paid DJ for five years running, and his collab-heavy 2017 album Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1 was better than it had any right to be. Lipa, the young English pop star, has already pretty much conquered Europe, and she’s making inroads into the US, as well. So it makes perfect sense that Harris and Lipa now have a song together. It also makes sense that it’s pretty good.
On first listen, the most striking thing about “One Kiss” is that it shows Harris abandoning his giddy, playful Funk Wav Bounces sound. “One Kiss” is a straight-up stadium-house banger like the ones that made Harris famous in the first place. Lipa does house-diva duties over a swooshing, mechanized beat that hits all its grand, climactic marks. It sounds almost old-school at this point.
On second listen, the most striking thing about “One Kiss” is that it’s a banger. There’s a bit of sensuality in the track; it’s not just one of those towering-robot EDM songs. The interplay between the organ and the bassline recalls classic house music, and Lipa knows how to breathe on a monstrous beat like this. Check it out below.
“One Kiss” is out now at iTunes.