We’re getting ever-closer to the end of 2020, meaning that musicians are dropping hot new releases, taking advantage of the public’s bad long-term memory to make marks on everybody’s ‘Best of 2020’ lists. Some will be successful; others won’t. A duo that’s firmly in the former category though, is Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa — two pop queens who’ve had a diamond year and are rounding it out by collaborating on a punky pop song called “Prisoner”, which dropped alongside a video today.
And it’s a belter. Cut firmly from the cloth of Miley’s current Joan Jett-esque era — think raspy rock vocals and the echoed screech of guitar strings — it’s a track about the Stockholm Syndrome of a lover that’s bad for you. Dua and Miley take turns with the lyrics, “Strung out on a feeling, my hands are tied / Your face on my ceiling, I fantasise,” Dua sings on the opening verse, before they burst into a shared chorus: “Prisoner, prisoner, locked up / Can't get you off my mind… / Lord knows I tried a million times”.
While it’s familiar ground for Miley, it’s a nice return to the brazen pop-rock of tracks like “Hotter Than Hell” for Dua, who’s been firmly rooted in disco-pop for the past year or so. What’s more, the video — which we were teased thanks to tabloid leaks a few months ago — is distinctly darker than anything either of them have created before. Think writhing around in fake blood, torn fishnets, punk gigs and Dua quite forcefully sticking her hand in someone’s mouth. Do we deserve either of these queens? Clearly not. Watch the video for “Prisoner” below and get ready for Miley’s new record, Plastic Heart dropping next week.