Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s 2001 single “Murder on the Dancefloor” is climbing the charts once again, and it's all thanks to Saltburn.
Per Rolling Stone, “Murder on the Dancefloor” is going viral thanks to its inclusion in the film’s final scene in which its star, Oscar-nominee Barry Keoghan, dances nude. The very scene has inspired a number of users on TikTok to share themselves doing the “Saltburn dance,” including Ellis-Bextor herself.
“It actually feels really magical. And if I’m honest, I don’t think I’ve completely processed it really,” said the 44-year-old UK singer to the BBC.
“It’s extraordinary. It’s a song I’ve been singing for over 20 years, I still love singing it. I love the way people react when I do it live. But for new people to be discovering it, for it to be making new memories with people is kind of beautiful.”
Ellis-Bextor told People that she had few details about how her song would be used when it was time to clear the single for the film’s use.
“This little synopsis described how the character would be dancing, but I didn’t have any context,” said the singer. “I’ve got quite a quirky sense of humor anyway, so I was like, ‘I think I have to see how this plays out.'”
“Murder on the Dancefloor” was a major hit in her home country when it was first released, reaching the No. 2 spot on the Official Charts Company’s singles chart, per a report from Billboard. After the release of Saltburn, the song has re-peaked at No. 8 on the UK charts, per the BBC.
Despite its initial modest success in the U.S. back in the day (reaching No. 26 on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart), “Murder” is currently making waves stateside at No. 3 on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Song Sales chart, according to Rolling Stone. On Billboard’s TikTok chart, the track sits at No. 32.
The single is experiencing what is known as “the Kate Bush Effect,” defined by Music Connection Magazine as “the marketing boost that comes with having a track licensed for a TV show or film that has been established for a long time.”
Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was released as the lead single for her 1985 album, Hounds of Love. The track enjoyed critical and commercial success at the time, reaching No. 3 on the U.K. singles chart and No. 30 on the Billboard Hot 100, per Billboard.
However, the single found a new lease on life in 2022 when it was used on the fourth season of Netflix’s Stranger Things. The song returned to the Billboard charts once again in June 2022, and peaked at the No. 3 spot on the Hot 100, trailing behind Harry Styles’ “As It Was” and Jack Harlow’s “First Class” at the number one and two spots, respectively.
Saltburn, written and directed by Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) with Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi starring alongside Keoghan, has been gaining a lot of attention since its U.S. debut on Nov. 17. The film’s now infamous “bathtub scene” has inspired a line of “bath water” candles and a TikTok drink.
Saltburn is streaming now on Amazon's Prime Video.
