Strut Through The Rigors of Dating With Dua Lipa’s “Training Season”

A feeling of euphoria shot through my body as the dance floor lights hit my face, sweat rolled down my chest and “Hung Up” by Madonna echoed through the club. I danced a little too provocatively with someone I thought liked me because this night felt like the closest I was going to get to those dance scenes in the movies where two lovers walk into a club and have some sort of cosmic connection on the dance floor.

The only difference between my life and the movies is that those characters don’t know the rigors of dating in New York, because the next morning I received a message that read: “I think you’re really amazing, and I enjoy spending time with you, but…” my stomach dropped,* “I’m just not ready for a long term relationship. I think I still need to find myself and have a lot of things I need to work on that I have to do alone.”

I heard this from my last situationship, and the one before, and the one before, but this response this time was my final straw. My next thought was, “At least I got a response this time. It’s better than being ghosted.”

After this situationship ended in December, I completely turned my back on dating. It seemed true that no one in New York was serious enough to commit. In the beginning of February, things changed. Spring was around the corner, a refreshing energy pulsated through New York as fashion month kicked off, and I realized I had the same fate as a global pop star. When I got a taste of Dua Lip’s chorus in “Training Season” — “whose love feels like a rodeo, knows just how to take control” — my pessimistic mind was flooded with serotonin, dopamine, and thoughts of summertime bliss that made me want to gyrate down the block.

The second single from Dua Lipa’s still-untitled forthcoming album, “Training Season,” allows you to strut through the rigors of dating. The sleek, dance-infused track, which was released on February 16th, was co-produced by Danny L. Harle and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. The love song dedicated to treating yourself right allows you to begin seeing the beauty in finding that person to experience love with. “Training Season” is a masterclass in how to make pop-music.

When announcing the single Dua Lipa said, “I had been on a string of bad dates, and the last one was the final straw. The next morning I arrived to the studio to Caroline and Tobias asking me how it all went and I immediately declared, “TRAINING SEASON IS OVER,” and like the best “day after” debriefs with your mates, we had a lot of laughs and it all quickly came together from there.”

She continued, “And while it is obviously about that feeling when you are just absolutely done telling people… men specifically in this case, how to date you right; it is also about my training season being over and me growing with every experience. I have never felt more confident, clear or empowered. And while it may be that training season is never over for any of us, you start to see the beauty in finding that person to experience it with. You stop looking for the trainees and become more interested in having someone where you are and someone to grow with.”

The morning after Dua Lipa’s highly anticipated pop-track hit, I found myself sashaying down Houston on my way to work singing out loud, “Are you someone that I can give my heart to? Or just the poison that I’m drawn to? It can be hard to tell the difference late at night,” visibly annoying every person trying to enjoy their morning. I found myself actually enthralled with a Dua Lipa song. Most of the time, I feel the British artist releases songs that sound the exact same. The same upbeat tempo dance tracks with lyrics about love, loss, and happiness all fuse together in my brain where I can recognize the British artist’s voice, but couldn’t tell you the name of the song if my life depended on it. “Training Season” was very different for me. Music to my ears, Dua Lipa's self-love track put a spell on my brain.

My depression about dating in New York felt instantly lifted listening to “Training Season.” The sleek, powerful beat of the song where melodies swerve into a sound reminiscent of former disco hits, created a euphoric feeling that made me believe actually falling in love is the most beautiful part of finding your person. Falling in love is the light and being in love is the end of the tunnel. Belting the chorus on repeat, “When I’m vulnerable, he’s straight-talking to my soul. Conversation overload, got me feeling vertigo,” the track expresses how I, and it seems most of my peers, want a sort of mind boggling love with someone who can connect with our authentic selves.

The single was accompanied by a music video in which you hear the artist’s voicemail getting flooded with messages of apologies. Unphased, viewers see Lipa remain to herself while sitting in a café as men swarm around her. I audibly gasped listening to these voicemails because it made me feel seen. “So you don’t want to see anymore?” One read. Finally getting the courage to stick up for yourself and tell your situationship off only occurs to New Yorkers, I thought. Not a bonafide pop star who can snatch any man or woman they want off the street with a mere glance.

While dating in New York, I’ve realized how New Yorkers promote independence to a default. So much so that everyone thinks they have to endure their troubles by themselves, almost to a point of seeming perfect, as opposed to opening up and letting someone in. People discuss there being a perfect state of being in order to date, but it does not exist.

Hearing the universal struggles of dating, I’ve decided training season is over. My last relationship was my final straw. This single makes me excited for the ride of falling in love all over again. It gives me the confidence to tell people how to date me right. A quality I witness so many people abandon. My brain and heart are no longer cloudy. “Training Season” delivers an effervescent feeling I hope spills over into every song on Dua Lipa’s highly anticipated upcoming album.