It’s been a bit since Lizzo released new music, but you could be forgiven for thinking differently. She is a person who’s constantly in the news, be it for a truly eye-popping lawsuit, or for often pretty nasty speculation about her figure. To hear her tell it, she’s been afraid to go outside and has been living via social media. At least this is what “Love In Real Life,” her new single out this morning, tells us. And it tells us that it’s time to end living that way.
“Love In Real Life” is new sonic territory for Lizzo, though it is sonic territory that is rather trendy at the moment. The most obvious reference point in the verses is The Strokes, while the verses gesture towards “My Sharona.” The lyrics are classic Lizzo; “Tonight/I might make an appearance since I look this fine” and “Hey, ho, hey, ho/Give me something with a little tempo” are two things that Lizzo is wont to say. Lucky for her, these rather vague sentiments fit about as well with Y2K guitar riffs as they do with the pop-rap of her breakthrough in 2019 and the disco of her 2022 followup.
The track also comes with a new, quite literal video. Lizzo gets ready, goes out, and has some kind of anxious experience in the club that sends her outside. On some deserted, apparently European city square. Suddenly, a bunch of dancers arrive, bringing the party back to her. It sort of conjures “Thriller,” but only as much as it also conjures Tom Hooper’s Cats. The video ends extremely bizarrely, with the music cutting and a car slowly approaching the dancers who just leap on the hood as the footage fades to black. You can check that out below.
