How ‘Saltburn’ sent 23 year old hit song ‘Murder on the Dancefloor’ back to the top of the charts

Talk about a killer comeback. After “Murder on the Dancefloor” — a disco delight by British singer Sophie Ellis Bextor — was released in 2001, it became a bit hit in the UK. But the track from her debut album, “Read My Lips,” failed to slay the States. Twenty three years and one full frontal nude dancing scene later, all that has changed because of “Saltburn.” The euphoric victory boogie by Barry Keoghan’s coked up character Oliver at the end of the buzzy black comedy psychological thriller is set to the bass bumping groove of “Murder on the Dancefloor.” And after “Saltburn” went from its limited theatrical release in November to its streaming debut on Amazon Prime Video on Dec.

22, the song that inspired all that booty baring and shaking from Keoghan — and a TikTok trend with Oliver wannabes making like they’re cavorting through the Saltburn estate — has been heating up in the US and worldwide. In fact, on New Year’s Eve, “Murder on the Dancefloor” racked up its highest ever single day streams on Spotify globally.

The song’s 1.5 million streams worldwide marked a 340% increase over New Year’s Eve 2022. Previously, streams for the dance pop bop had spiked Stateside by 360% in the first week after the film’s Nov. 22 theatrical release. Meanwhile, streams of the official “Saltburn” playlist have also increased globally by 250% since the movie hit Prime Video.

Not a bad way for Emerald Fennell’s film to shimmy into the Golden Globes on Sunday, where Keoghan is nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama and Rosamund Pike is up for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. But the big win for Ellis Bextor, 44, is the renewed interest in her tune from many people who are discovering it for the first time.

Still, she didn’t imagine that “Murder on the Dancefloor” would be used in such a naked display of twirling triumph. “I didn’t really know exactly how it would play in terms of the role it was in the movie until I saw it at the screening, but I absolutely loved it,” she told People . And the the singer “had a giggle” when she met Keoghan after watching the scene.

“I mean, he’s never going to be able to hear that [song] in the same way again,” said Ellis Bextor. “And every time he’s out and that comes on, people are going to think he’s going to strip off!”.