The 2001 song is experiencing new hype thanks to the ending scene in the satirical thriller “Saltburn.”
Actor Barry Keoghan (“Dunkirk”) dances naked to “Murder On The Dancefloor”: The newly released thriller “Saltburn” by director and screenwriter Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) features the song by Sophie Ellis-Bextor with this impressive scene back in the charts after 23 years. The track is also currently going viral on TikTok.
The phenomenon is well known – new films or series push old pop songs back into memory. Kate Bush’s 1985 song “Running up the Hill” experienced renewed hype after its inclusion in the series “Stranger Things” in 2022. Now comes Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Murder On The Dancefloor” – back in the UK charts and popular on TikTok, the song even has Gen Z listeners. The film “Saltburn,” available on Amazon Prime Video, ends with the scene, which is now being recreated en masse on social media. Like Barry Keoghan, the TikTok generation dances extrovertedly through their own four walls in the videos posted.
The result: After the theatrical release of the Fennell thriller, the hit is back in the top 40 UK charts, currently at number 27. After its release in the early 2000s, “Murder On The Dancefloor” stayed in the charts for 23 weeks Charts.
Naked scene surprised Sophie Ellis-Bextor
The singer thanked X for her single’s renaissance: “Wow… thanks for all the Murder love.”
The 44-year-old spoke to “People” about the film scene itself, which she had already seen. She “wasn’t quite prepared for the footage,” said the singer. She “didn’t know exactly what role the scene would play in the film. It wasn’t until the artist was sitting in the performance that she saw what her song was being used for – “but I thought it was absolutely great,” the musician continued. “I think it’s a clever, funny, intelligent film. I really enjoyed it.”
The satirical thriller “Saltburn” has been available to watch on Amazon Prime Video since December 22nd.