POPJUICE

Fresh off featuring the legendary Stevie Nicks on a remix of ‘Midnight Sky’, the Miley Cyrus collaboration train is moving full speed ahead—this time with Cyrus’ pop contemporary Dua Lipa.

The result of their collaboration, first teased back in August, is the dark ‘Prisoner’ which arrives today (November 20th) with a grungy, debaucherous video to boot.

The song addresses the struggle of breaking free from a harrowing relationship: “Strung out on a feeling, my hands are tied / Your face on my ceiling, I fantasise,” Lipa sings. The pair’s mellow vocals come together spotlessly and it’s refreshing to see them borrowing from each other’s sound. ‘Prisoner’ plays like a perfect cross between the disco references of the Dua Lipa Future Nostalgia Multiverse and the glam rock throwback of Cyrus’ ‘Midnight Sky’.

The song is reminiscent of Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical’, which was interpolated by Lipa herself earlier this year in her song of the same name. ‘Prisoner’ is quintessential Miley Cyrus, an instant rush of escapism that precedes the release of her seventh studio album, ‘Plastic Hearts’, out next week.

The accompanying music video sees the singers drive around on a tour bus and (almost) exchange kisses—a sapphic affair full of spiders and screams that ends with an electrifying performance at a bar. The video ends with an intertitle of “In Loving Memory Of All My Exes, Eat Shit”, and a post-credits scene featuring the late drag queen Divine.

Pre-2020, we’d never have thought that the pop forces of Lipa and Cyrus would ever intersect, but we’re here now, and we don’t ever want them to let us go.

Watch the music video for ‘Prisoner’ below: