Club Future Nostalgia (DJ Mix)

The world had barely hit pause on Future Nostalgia, Dua Lipa’s exhilarating, Mercury-nominated second album, when the singer announced Club Future Nostalgia, an explosive new remix edition featuring an astonishing lineup of some of the biggest names in music. If Future Nostalgia—released just as the global pandemic began—had us all stuck dancing in our living rooms, Club Future Nostalgia turns the volume right up. A collaboration with club queen (and award-winning producer and DJ) The Blessed Madonna, it’s a dream world where dancing with strangers is unimpeded by the six-foot rule—and where Gwen Stefani, Mark Ronson, Missy Elliott, and Madonna, as well as dance music innovators (Dimitri From Paris, Horse Meat Disco, and Joe Goddard, to name a few), drop in to let loose. “I wanted to create something that would make people want to dance, to bring them a bit of happiness, ” Lipa tells Apple Music. “I just wanted to create something fun.” As for where Club Future Nostalgia takes her? Straight to Glastonbury’s infamous club areas, late at night. “I feel like Future Nostalgia the album might get me a spot in one of the main tents at Glastonbury,” she says. “But I'm hoping that Club Future Nostalgia will get me down at NYC Downlow at five in the morning.”

Fittingly, Lipa first met The Blessed Madonna—aka Marea Stamper—in a similar setting: at a secret Mark Ronson gig one night at the festival. “We just hit it off from that point,” says Lipa. “I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m such a fan of yours!’ And she was like, ‘Oh my god, I love you!’” When Lipa had the quarantine idea of creating Club Future Nostalgia, the choice of who she’d recruit to help her was clear. “I just love her work and I felt like it was the perfect fit,” she says. “We had all this time on our hands, and it was just another way of thinking outside the box and getting creative during [lockdown].” From a distance—and in secret—they got to work, going back and forth on ideas and samples, which range from “Cosmic Girl” by Jamiroquai to Stevie Nicks’ “Stand Back” and Neneh Cherry’s “Buffalo Stance.” Then there was the question of who would take the feature spots, Lipa and Stamper joking that it would be crazy if Madonna (no relation) got in on the act. “I was like, ‘Well, it can’t hurt to ask,’” says Lipa. The result is The Blessed Madonna’s remix of “Levitating”—Future Nostalgia’s most club-adjacent track—on which Madonna and Missy Elliott guest star. Elsewhere, on Mark Ronson’s remix of “Physical,” Gwen Stefani adds her name to the roll call, lending her ultra-recognizable vocals to Lipa’s verses. Future Nostalgia (and its Mercury nod) may have sealed Lipa’s ascent into pop royalty, but the willingness of those legendary “female alphas” to join her here makes that unstoppable rise beyond doubt. “It’s crazy for me to have such incredible artists from this record and to have them wanting to be a part of it,” says Lipa. “It's mind-blowing, really, to be really honest. It’s something that I'll never forget.”

Like many artists, Lipa never envisaged releasing the best music of her career to date in the midst of a global pandemic, canceled tour dates, and missed festival appearances. “I bump into people on the street who have just been like, ‘Thank you for soundtracking my workout during quarantine,’ or ‘Thank you so much for putting this out during this time.’ This album is fun, and it’s about creating experiences for everyone at home. That’s kind of the most important thing for me right now.” The Club Future Nostalgia party will keep going for a long while yet, but the singer is already making her French exit. “I’ve got a bunch more songs to come, and I’m already planning my next move,” she says. “There’s plenty more of where that came from, and you’ll be hearing more from me soon.”