The Sophie Ellis-Bextor songs needing the Murder on the Dancefloor treatment

For when Emerald Fennell fancies soundtracking Saltburn 2: The Revenge of Felix

4 months ago

It’s been assumedly quite the bemusing and blissful few months for Sophie Ellis-Bextor. When she signed off on her biggest hit, 2001’s Murder on the Dancefloor, getting approved for usage in the final moments of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn I don’t think she had a single clue that she’d be in a chart battle with the latest Ariana Grande lead single for the UK number one. It’s all a bit wild – and say what you want about Saltburn, but no one can deny it’s been a cultural phenomenon of huge proportions. But Murder on the Dancefloor isn’t the only Sophie Ellis-Bextor song that deserves some chart ascension: Here’s 10 Sophie-Ellis Bextor songs that deserve the Saltburn treatment.

Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)

For her first single as a soloist following her stint in 90s band Theaudience, Sophie Ellis-Bextor provides lead vocals on Spiller’s single Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love) and it’s an eternal, bonafide banger. How can you not wanna slam your brakes on and march up to the dance floor when you hear that intro? It’s got Kylie Minogue funk in abundance. Rammer.

Get Over You

Sophie’s debut album Read My Lips is chock full of banger singles, most known of them of course being Murder on the Dancefloor. But Get Over You isn’t far behind, with its iconic ay-ay-ay-ay-ay melody proving nothing short of hypnotic. Literally feels like a sister song to Murder on the Dancefloor, and it’s near enough just as impressive.

Take Me Home

Embarrassingly only learned that this is a Cher cover at the end of last year. Disco perfection no matter who’s singing it, but I had no clue it wasn’t a SEB original. Woeful. I’ll see myself out.

Mixed Up World

The lead single from Sophie’s second album Shoot From The Hip has all the strut of a Pet Shop Boys hit, and it deserves better. Completely underrated. Still sounds cool as fuck now, 20 years after it came out.

Catch You

With Cathy Dennis on the pen, Sophie’s third record Trip The Light Fantastic (great album title) screamed into its era with Catch You – an extremely arresting lead single that sounds like it could be a Sugababes or Girls Aloud hit. Proper mid 00s excellence. How was this not a huge hit? We need the Sophie Ellis-Bextor Saltburn magic to work once again here for real.

Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)

Sophie Ellis-Bextor chose to lead her best album Make a Scene with this acclaimed and revered collaboration with Freemasons. It’s camp, chic, cool and a gay club classic. Now we need to make it a chart resurgence classic, too. It’s VERY Madonna.

Can’t Fight This Feeling

The perfect follow up single to Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) – it literally sounds like a sequel, even though this sees Sophie working with Junior Caldera making electro pop perfection. It’s thumping, pulsing, sweaty dance heaven.

Come With Us

2016’s Familia is a weird album – but one that has a clear peak with the outstanding Come With Us, a funky disco number that feels very much like a grown-up mum-pop version of Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Not a huge slant, but definitely a tone down from the raucous dance of old for a gentle Sunday morning toe-tapper sort of vibe. Got a lot of time for it.

Crying at the Discotheque

In the Covid lockdown, Sophie Ellis-Bextor found new viral fame that acted as a nice precursor to what she’s then get with Saltburn when she started getting noticed for her “Kitchen Disco” she’d have on live social media for fans. It resulted in a new greatest hits record, with this Alcazar cover as its lead. It feels old school Sophie at her very best.

Hypnotized

In 2022, Sophie Ellis-Bextor released Hypnotized – a collab with Wuh-Oh that featured additional production from extremely cool guy about town Sega Bodega. It is undoubtedly top three best SEB songs of all time. No joke. High camp, high drama, huge danceability. She rhymes Hypnotized with head. Hypnoti-ZED. How can you not stan? When Sophie Ellis-Bextor sung this live in the Eurovision village in Liverpool last year I literally ascended to another planet – you’d have thought I was at Oliver Quick’s party in Saltburn.

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